By Deborah Jackson, editor National Liquor News
A new boutique online Malbec supplier has launched with the aim of bringing the best of the the wine style to the on-premise in Australia.
The site, Artisan Malbec, works with exclusive restaurants, independent bottle shops and sommeliers, helping them to find the best Malbec wines available in the market.
Launching last month, the site offers Malbec wines from Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and France.
Artisan Malbec acts as a specialist online wine retailer, wine club, a hub for news and events, while also offering exclusive interviews with winemakers, vintage reports, food and wine matching and recipes.
Artisan Malbec is the creation of Daniela Penno, a wine industry professional with more than 15 years’ experience promoting Australian and Argentinian wines to a global audience, and her business partner Germán Fumis, a business development and project manager with a passion for Malbec.
For Penno and Fumis, the beauty of Artisan Malbec lies in catering to such a niche market and their hands-on, personalised approach to sourcing the best expressions of wine for their customers. They offer both big name Malbecs from some of the world’s most renowned producers to small batch, boutique wines that can be difficult to track down.
“We understand that each wine has a story. We’re in search of those special Malbec stories that make a wine a unique product,” said Penno.
“We want our customers to join us in this Malbec journey and explore the best collections of Malbec wines available in the market together.”
Penno continued: “We’re believers that our Argentine Malbec is unique, however, there are other fantastic wines emerging in our country like Cabernet Franc, Bonarda and Torrontes. Our focus is of course Malbec and Malbec blends but we will also offer other varieties that grow well in Malbec regions for those who want to experiment with different varietals. We will be working with importers, producers, winemakers and promoters of Malbec from all over the world to put together the best offer of Malbecs available in Australia for our customers.”
Penno said that she is excited to watch Artisan Malbec grow while keeping the focus on personalised customer service, education and a passion for the Malbec varietal.
“This space is not just a website to buy wine, but to learn and guide our members through the experience of this wine varietal with bonus educational articles, tasting notes, travel ideas, interviews with experts and the best selection of Malbec wines from different regions. With its rising and well-deserved global popularity, we’re so excited to share the journey with our members through Artisan Malbec.”
Artisan Malbec’s portfolio is available for the on and off-premise trade. Some of the South American wineries that Artisan Malbec represents in Australia are Mythic Estate, Luigi Bosca, Bodega Bressia, Viniterra, Altamana, Finca Agostino, Marcelo Pelleriti Wines and Rosell Boher.