I’ve got my “house favorite” wines I buy regularly and reach for after a rough day at the office.

Then there are the times when I’d like something different, and those times are becoming more frequent, so I’m trying a lot of new wines. And that’s a good thing.

Last week, Sweet gave me a bottle we received for review: 2008 High Note Elevated Malbec from Argentina. I happen to be a big malbec fan (they are usually Bold wines), so this was a treat for me.

The High Note is found for around $10 (I saw it at ABC Fine Wines), and is an interesting, complicated blend. Along with Malbec (85 percent), cabernet sauvignon (7 percent), cabernet franc (4 percent), viognier (2 percent) and petit verdot (2 percent) are included. It’s called an elevated malbec because the grapes are grown at very high elevations in the Uco Valley.

With that kind of blend, I thought it might open a little softer than it did, but it was sharp and needed to breathe a bit. It smelled great from the start – lots of dark berries – and it was tough to just smell it and not drink right away.

After an hour opened and decanted, it had mellowed a bit, but really didn’t give me the full flavor until I tried what Dry refers to as “stinky cheese.” I had a brie/bleu combo that fit the bill and with that, the malbec came roaring out with the dark berry taste and more than a hint of vanilla. In fact, that was the most vanilla I’ve ever tasted in a wine, and that was fine with me.

For a meal, I’d pair it with grilled meats, or other rich foods. I don’t think I’d drink it by itself, because it didn’t mellow enough for that even after being opened for an hour or more.