So Malbec is the new wine wave hitting these parts. Why not? It’s a good-buy wine, hale and hearty and a terrific food companion, especially now that it’s getting to be stews-and-casseroles season.

Malbec is a Bordeaux grape that’s also found in the Loire and Cahors regions. Three years ago you’d have been hard-pressed to find a Malbec, so-identified, on our shelves. Now there are 40 (even a Malbec rosé) in the LDB’s Argentina section alone; check Chile for a few more.

All September long, the LDB staged a “thematic” at several of its stores, focusing on these new reds from Argentina. A little slow to respond to the popular taste, after the Chilean wave had already splashed past, Argentine wine producers have certainly made up for lost time with this batch. The wines, which used to be heavy and woody and sometimes raunchy, now show finesse and style, along with abundant but fresh fruit, and manage to do it mostly in the $10 to $20 range.

With three exceptions, the wines in this lineup are 100-percent Malbec. A couple are oak-aged, and there’s one organic wine. Here’s a tasty batch, in ascending order of price, selected from that thematic thing last month.

Madrigal Cabernet Sauvignon/Malbec 2006 ($9.99)
A beautiful deep-purple colour; a rich, brothy aroma; big Italian prune fruit; and a mellow finish. This is sensational, really, for the price. It may not have the elegance of some of the others here, but it does have something none of them have—a 10-buck price sticker—and for that alone, straight to the head of the class!

Finca Flichman Oak Aged 2008 ($11.99)
We all liked a bit of oak on our Malbecs this round, and the three months’ aging this gets seems just the right amount, leaving it still fresh and vibrant, with big up-front fruit. Another outstanding value.

Bodegas Santa Ana Casa de Campo 2007 ($12.99)
This has that same ripe blue-prune fruit that characterizes many of these wines, with the beefy taste and intense weight, although it was more reminiscent of some of the older-style Argentine reds, and hence not a huge favourite around the table.

Viu Manent 2008 ($13.99)
The Chilean ringer in this round, it was tasted in the company of earlier Argentine arrivals here a year or so ago and ran rings around the rest. Now it has its work cut out for it, because while the fruit is ripe and pleasantly sweet and the overall effect very good, there’s much stiffer competition, above and below.

Vina Dona Paula Los Cardos 2007 ($13.99)
The name means “the thistles” and the back label claims that it’s “incredibly approachable”—not a thistly quality as we know it. Redolent of ripe red and black fruit, with some herb hints and perhaps even a little dark-roast coffee in the finish. Very elegant and mellow. Best so far.

Bodegas Pascual Toso 2007 & 2008 ($13.99)
Interesting to have two vintages of this “rustic, sincere, medium-bodied wine” for comparison. The ’07 seemed richer and spicier; otherwise, there was the same fresh, cherry-led fruity finish in both vintages. Outstanding satisfaction for the price.

Domaine Jean Bousquet Organic Malbec 2007 ($15.99)
I’d spend the extra toonie to get more of this: dark and heady, with peppery spice and rich Ribena mellowness. The label makes reference to a “plush finish”, and that’s an apt term for describing this weighty, meaty wine.

Trivento Amado Sur Malbec/Syrah/Bonarda 2006 ($15.99)
With 75-percent Malbec plus two blenders, there’s a bite at the front of the tongue, but a soft finish—a neat trick. Fine for young Mimolette cheese, apples, and dried nectarines. The fruit is a bit hard, but not unpleasantly, so major meat would be the thing to serve.

Bodegas Santa Ana Casa de Campo Reserva Malbec/Shiraz 2007 ($15.99)
This is where the action is with the Bodegas Santa Ana label: depth and finesse and fruit galore, just the thing for runny Brie, Saint André, or other double (and triple!) cream cheeses. A year in French and American oak makes a marvellous difference. This is a gorgeous wine—sends some of the others packing.

Bodegas Universo Austral Calafante 2007 ($16.99)
Originates in Patagonia and presents “candied fruits and fresh [sic] raisins on the nose and grand structure on the palate”. They say lamb, I say they’re right. Lush and rich and beautiful on the palate, with a long finish. In this corner, with the one just above in the other: fight to the finish!

Bodegas Catena Alamos 2008 ($16.99)
Rich and robust, with hearty fruit and a lingering, soft finish. A sturdy, well-made wine that serves rich-flavoured and -spiced casseroles especially well.

Don Miguel Gascon 2007 ($16.99)
Firm and full, very big fruit, easy but effective oak, and solid tannins. You might want this for a really good, old-family-recipe meat loaf (and the next day’s leftovers), or Stoned Wheat Thins with Crí¨me de Saint Agur cheese and some Cox’s Pippin apples.

Vina Cobos Felino 2007 ($16.99)
Intense, ripe fruit; assertive (but not overpowering) oak; abundant body; and a medium finish, with a touch of softness that kicks in as it slides down. For lemon and rosemary roasted chicken with oven-dried tomatoes and yams.

Luis Segundo Correas Valle las Acequias Malbec Oak 2005 ($19.99)
This has the distinction of being both the oldest and the most expensive wine in the tasting. It’s ultra-rich and round, with a beautiful use of oak and heady fruit. We loved it, and would have loved it even more if it had come in at the $16 or $17 price point.

Overall observation: there really isn’t a dud in the lot, and that’s perhaps the most impressive thing. Make Malbec a part of your autumn table—you won’t be disappointed.