If red is the color of love, then look no further than a fine red wine to display your Valentine's Day feelings. In addition to its heart-healthy attributes, wine brings out the best in a romantic relationship, inducing conversation as it is sipped and savored. In our house, there rarely is a reason to have anything but red wine.

My choice to match the Valentine mood and to spear my husband's heart with Cupid's arrow is South American malbec. With earthy aromas ranging from espresso to leather, and flavor that hints of blackberry, the rich variety is the current darling of my husband — and of the wine world in general — for good reason. The malbecs now emerging from Argentina are as bold and lusty as intertwined tango dancers moving across a smoky dance floor.

Malbec and Mendoza — the Argentine valley from which some of the best malbecs are now emerging — have themselves been intertwined for more than a century. Immigrants fleeing Europe in the 1860s brought not only their culture, but also their grapevine cuttings and knowledge of viticulture. While the region boasts a wide range of varietals associated with the immigrants' home countries — sangiovese and barbera from Italy and tempranillo from Spain — it was malbec from France that found a natural home in the New World.

Probably best known as just one of the varieties that go into making Bordeaux wine, malbec has also historically been favored to add complexity to claret blends. Described as having flavor somewhere between cabernet and merlot, it is rarely found as a single-variety wine in France where the grapes, once coveted, have fallen out of favor.

The hardy, yet picky malbec grape

But things are very different in Argentina. The Mendoza Valley is situated on a high desert plain just over the Andes from Santiago de Chile, some 600 miles west of Buenos Aires. While the valley receives only 8 inches of average annual rainfall, clear streams fed by snowmelt from the Andes bring life to the dry land. The region is ideal for agriculture, where hot, clear summers promote growth and farmers are able to control irrigation using pure mountain water that flows through a canal system dating back to Inca times. While many fruit crops are grown, including pears and apples, wine grapes — particularly malbec grapes — are especially suited to the climate.

Vineyards start at about 3,000 feet in elevation and go all the way up to about 5,000 feet. With each 400 feet of elevation increase, temperatures fall by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit, providing distinct microclimates. If an area proves too warm for a grape like tempranillo, no problem; just plant it higher on the hill.

Malbec is a thin-skinned grape that is more susceptible to frost than other varieties. It thrives in summer heat but needs cool nighttime temperatures that drop a minimum of 27 degrees from daytime highs. It has found a home in the Mendoza Valley because summer days are hot and dry but temperatures fall dramatically at night — sometimes more than 30 degrees. This wide daily temperature disparity allows the grapes to ripen slowly, resulting in what vintners call additional hang-time — slow ripening with a period when the grapes remain on the vine even after sugars indicate ripeness. Slow ripening in the Mendoza Valley produces depth of flavor that could never be achieved by malbec in Europe.

A rediscovery in Argentina

The renaissance of malbec — and the accompanying upsurge in Argentine wine popularity — began in the past 10 to 20 years when the Mendoza Valley was discovered by vintners from other wine regions. Growers who made their names and fortunes in Europe — like Chandon and Rothschild — were attracted by inexpensive land and old-growth, established vineyards. Purchasing land or partnering with longtime Argentine growers, they have invested more the $1 billion in the last 12 years, instituting contemporary winemaking techniques in unison. Today's wineries are sleek and modern, utilizing state-of-the-art equipment and air-conditioned above-ground "caves" that contain French and California oak barrels. The valley now boasts more than 160,000 acres of fine wine vineyards, with more than half planted in the past five years alone.

For those of us who enjoy fine wine at affordable prices, the Mendoza malbecs are unexpected gifts. While the wines are good enough to hold their own on the international market, the Argentine industry still needs time to fully mature. Reminiscent of the Napa Valley some 30 years ago when good-tasting bargains could still be found, I expect the Mendoza Valley will become a prime wine-growing region in the next 10 years, with bottle prices that will match its superior status. Some, like the Lurton Chacayes, have already attained that rank, collecting rave reviews and awards in competitions around the world.

In the meantime, however, we can enjoy the good value provided by most of Mendoza's malbecs. Whether from a long-established vintner like Bodega Catena (my husband Kurt's personal favorite) in the Luján de Cuyo DOC region, or a newer winery like Bodega O. Fournier that brings contemporary styling to Urban Uco from the Uco district, many of the affordable malbecs are easy-drinking wines with rustic, fruity undertones evocative of the land from which they come.

Malbecs are the perfect choice to accompany meats, red sauces and other hearty winter meals. This Valentine's Day, Kurt and I will toast with the Catena or Luigi Bosca, another favorite we recently discovered, as we dream about the lush old-growth vines of Argentina.

Here is a winter pasta sauce, adapted from Trattoria by Patricia Wells, that pairs well with malbec.

PASTA WITH VEAL SAUCE
(Serves 6 to 8)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
3/4 pound ground veal
2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes in purée
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (16-ounce) box dried linguine
Parmesan cheese, shaved or grated, to taste

Combine oil, onion, carrot, garlic and parsley in a large skillet and cook over medium heat until onion and carrot soften, about 5 minutes. Add the veal, breaking it apart, and cook about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and red pepper flakes, stirring well. Cover and simmer until the sauce begins to thicken, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and toss with veal sauce. Serve with freshly shaved Parmesan cheese.