1997 Benziger Imagery Series Malbec

Benziger Family Winery was founded in 1981 when Mike and Mary Benziger, then a young married couple, settled in northern California. Within a few years Mike’s father Bruno Benziger, a successful New Jersey wine and spirits importer, purchased property in Sonoma Valley to start a grape-growing and farming business. The family specialized in well-made but modestly-priced wines, and by 1985 they were producing 380,000 bottles annually. Eventually Benziger’s six other adult children moved west and joined the business. Their Glen Ellen and M.G. Vallejo brands were sold to Heublein Inc. in 1993. However the family also started a line of fine wines in the 1980s and today the 100-acre estate includes vineyards in the Russian River Valley, the Sonoma Coast, Sonoma Valley and Sonoma Mountain appellations. The estate is biodynamic and produces a broad portfolio of wines including Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and blends. The estate is still owned and operated by the Benziger family.

Alexander Valley is an American Viticultural Area just north of Healdsburg, in Sonoma County. It was granted AVA status in 1984, with amendments made in subsequent years. The Russian River flows through the valley, and the region was named for Cyrus Alexander, a 19th century landowner and grape grower. The AVA includes 15,000 vineyard acres, much of it rich, alluvial soil layered on a bed of gravel, somewhat similar to many vineyards in Bordeaux. Alexander Valley is sheltered from marine weather by the low hills northeast of Healdsburg, though it is often shrouded in the morning fog coming off the Russian River. Some of the earliest commercial winemaking in the area started in the 1880s, when immigrants formed the Italian Swiss Colony cooperative at Asti. The region made jug wines until the 1960s and 1970s, when a new wave of quality-minded producers started estates. Today Alexander Valley is home to some of California’s most admired wineries, including Simi, Stonestreet and the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. Silver Oak Cellars, though based in Napa Valley, has a second winery in Alexander Valley where it makes Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Many grapes do well in the Alexander Valley, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel.

This grape produces a dark red wine with plenty of tannins. It is one of the six grapes allowed for blending red Bordeaux wines. Malbec is also the flagship variety of Argentina. The grape needs a lot of sun and heat to mature. It adds complexity and intensity to blends.