For six bucks, our threshold for what constitutes a recommendable wine is very, very low.  However, with that being the case, the Viu Manent Malbec 2007 exceeded our expectations by quite a bit.  In the nose we found blackberry and hints of oak along with herbal scents — the combination seemed slightly strange at first, but we eventually found ourselves more intrigued than anything else.  In the mouth, we found more of the same with a bit of tea flavor in the finish.  The medium tannin and light acidity matched the body nicely.

The Viu Manent was hardly as fruit-forward or heavy as the Malbecs that we’ve had from Argentina (which is more famous for the varietal), and the alcohol content of 14% reflected the lighter style.

Overall, we felt that our money was well spent.  Heck, we’ve paid twice as much for other wines that weren’t half as good!

Where to get it: We bought our bottle at Plumpjack Wines in Noe Valley.  They ship.  You can also find it using the Snooth search function under “Wine Locator” in the right hand column of this page, or by visiting wine-searcher.com or winezap.com.