Malbec – The Star Grape of Argentina
Native to Southwestern France, but now better known as the iconic grape of Argentina, a Mendoza Malbec is a hallmark of South American wine. Typically requiring high amounts of sunlight for full ripening, the sunny high altitude terroir of Mendoza allows for one of the best locations to grow this grape in the world.
The high altitude allows the grapes to produce the acidity they need which yields a better, more vivid and elegant wine.
Finca La Florencia Malbec
Dark, inky colours and a nose that is intense offering flavour aromas reminiscent of red and black fruits, coffee and tobacco, you will find the palate is velvety smooth, with soft, ripe tannins giving lovely structure and mouthfeel to the wine.
Producing powerful, yet approachable wines
Founded in 1957, Familia Cassone is a family owned and operated winery, created as the result of passion for winemaking and family tradition. Located in Mayor Drummond, Lujan de Cuyo in the southeast of Mendoza, this area is framed by the Andes range, with its majestic Mount Aconcagua and is considered the best vine-growing zone in Argentina. The wines are fermented in their high-tech winery before ageing in French oak barrels. These are wonderful wines that marry modern freshness of fruit with structure and complexity.
Food Pairings
Malbec doesn’t have a super long finish so it’s great with leaner red meats. It does extremely well with funky flavours like blue cheese & rustic flavours like mushrooms.
When using spices, look for earthy & smoky flavours such as parsley, thyme, rosemary, smoked paprika, cumin or corinader.
Blue Cheese Burgers with Crispy Fried Onion
Thank you to jocooks.com for this great recipe!
“It takes a red with a strong sense of character to hold up to blue cheese. The combination of juicy meat, the way the blue cheese makes your mouth water and the fruit & spice notes in a Malbec combine for an incredible meal!”
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1tsp salt to taste
- 1 tsp pepper to taste
- 2 onions sliced
- 4 burger buns
- 4 burger patties
- 4 blue cheese slices
- 2 large tomatoes sliced
- baby arugula or baby kale
- 4 tbsp sweet & spicy mustard
How to Make It
- Prepare your grill for cooking over high direct heat.
- In a large skillet melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add onions, season with 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper, then cook until crispy.
- Make sure the grill is cleaned and hot before laying down the patties. You might also want to oil the grill first.
- Season the burger patties with remaining salt and pepper. Add the patties to the grill and cook for about 5 minutes per side. DO NOT press on the patties while cooking.
- Lay a slice of blue cheese over each patty for the last 2 minutes of cooking. If you want to grill your burgers buns, add them to the grill now and don’t leave them more than 30 seconds.
- Remove everything from grill and assemble the burgers. Spread 1 tbsp of mustard on the bun. Top with some baby arugula or kale, lay the burger patty, tomato slices, crispy onions and top bun.