Lo-Fi 2021 Malbec, Santa Barbara County

The Lo‑Fi 2021 Malbec doesn’t arrive demanding attention—it drifts in with intention. Think blackberries cooked down, a flash of sour cherry, lilac brushing the edges, and a whisper of five-spice warmth. It’s sharp in all the right ways—expressive but grounded.

On the palate, the wine moves with surprising agility. Fruit spreads lightly, then pulls back into fine-grained tannins anchored by sandy clay mineral tone. Acidity keeps it buoyant, turning richness into focused energy rather than blur. It finishes clean, with memory anchoring more than residual sweetness.

That energy comes from its roots. Grown at the Coquelicot Estate (10’ x 6’ spacing) in Santa Barbara County, this Malbec thrives in cool, coastal-influenced terrain. The vineyard sits on Positas fine sandy loam over clay and gravel—land that forces the vines into clarity and restraint.

The winemaking leans into a hands-off ethos. Grapes are hand-harvested, foot-trodden once a day, fermented with native yeasts, fully malolactic in the bottle, aged in neutral 4-year-old French oak for eight months—and never filtered. Minimalist from start to finish.

This is Santa Barbara’s sharp side, not its sun. Pour it alongside grilled hatch chilis, pepper-crusted steak, or simply lean into it with notes and silence. It isn’t Malbec built to shout—but when it speaks, it lingers long after the glass is empty.

Lo-Fi 2021 Malbec—fog, flesh, and fine-grained tension in a glass.