This Argentinian malbec will have you asking, 'Where's the beef?' | Phil Your Glass

Word spreads fast thanks to the internet. My new friend Maria Ailen Tula, who works at the Argentinian Embassy, came across a couple Phil Your Glass articles and reached out to me on Instagram with an invitation to celebrate Malbec World Day with her, and 200 of her closest friends, on Embassy Row in our nation’s capital.

April 17 was Malbec World Day. After attending this food and wine experience at the embassy, I vote that the 17th of every month be Malbec World Day.

Quality beef and outstanding malbec wines are a dynamic duo that is the heart and soul of this South American country. Argentina produces 75% of all the malbec grapes grown in the world and is currently the fourth-largest beef producer in the world.

I was pretty wide-eyed and giddy (and not because I drank too much) with all of the great food and wine at this event. Wapisa malbec was one of the stellar wines I tasted that clearly stood out from a selection of over sixty wines.

Wapisa, which is an indigenous Patagonian world for whale, is coastal Patagonia’s only winery. Their malbec is grown in the Finca Los Acantilados vineyard, which is caressed by the cooling winds of the nearby Atlantic Ocean.

If I am lucky enough to be invited back, I will definitely bring Tupperware to take home all of the beef empanadas I can fit into my carry-on luggage. They were unbelievably delicious with the $19.99 Wapisa malbec, as was the Argentinian beef stroganoff with malbec reduction. ?Me gusta!

I was on the phone early the next morning calling my distributor friends trying to locate my favorite wines from the event that might be available for purchase in Ohio, so stay tuned for more amazing wines.

In the meantime, I was happy to find this wine was available locally. The following week, I spotted a bottle in the wine room at Crave in downtown Akron.

I immediately ordered the $14.50 steak skewer appetizer. The intense black raspberry and currant flavors of this wine complemented the chimichuri rub and spicy sriracha drizzle. The creamy and gooey manchego fondue was the cherry on top.

This bottle is a definite keeper.

You can find this wine at both Mustard Seed Market locations in Akron, Krieger's Market in Cuyahoga Falls, Beau's Market in Copley, Cornerstone Market in Munroe Falls, Fishers Foods in Canton, and Home Buys in North Canton.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Phil Your Glass discovers Wapisa malbec wine at Argentinian Embassy