Mmmmmalbec

                                                                                                    
Last month, I was lucky enough to snag a trip to Argentina, which, beyond an exhilarating break from Boston's hellacious weather, taught me a thing or two about a thing or two about Malbec, Argentina's most prized grape.  I also learned why people head south (to places like Argentina especially) for lengthy vacations:  the currency there, the Argentine peso, is 3.5 to the dollar.  It's pretty easy to get by on $15 a day!  Moreover, the people were as friendly as I've ever met -- though I grew up in New England, so that's not tough.

As for the food and wine of the country, Argentinians eat more meat per capita than anyone else in the world (see picture above).  When ordering a steak, which will usually put you back about $8 for top-grade, you're typically treated to about 22-30 oz. of prime Argentinean beef.  It's enough to clog your arteries and send you to heaven at the same time (assuming you believe in such a place). 

The meat, which comes from parts of the cow you've never heard of, as well as the usual tenderloins and rib-eyes, is often grilled on open flames, and is best plated up in restaurants called parillas.  The servings are big enough to make a Texan blush.

Back to the wine.  I don't think I drank anything but Malbec during my entire stay in Buenos Aires. That's fine, because it's delicious, relatively inexpensive, and you can't enough of it (my travel partners agreed, so don't judge).  We drank a different bottle(s) most nights we were there, knowing that a lot of it doesn't get shipped to the U.S.

As for cost, malbecs from Argentina (often made in Mendoza, the wine country of Argentina), whether purchased here or in their motherland, won't often run you more than $16.  They are (usually) very full-bodied wines, perfect for drinking with a large, charbroiled steak.  There are plenty of malbecs to be had for around $11 dollars however, and I really encourage you to get out there and try one, one of these days. 

People describe malbecs are tasting "jammy" sometimes -- don't think 80's, think berries -- and they are.  A lot of them are deep purple and taste like blackberries and plums.  There's also a very rustic quality to them.  Where they lack finesse, they more than make up for in flavor.  A great one that can be found right here in Boston in many wine stores is the Alamos Malbec, 2007 or 2008.