I picked up my Malbec grapes today from mdcrush in Mt. Airy Maryland - about 30 miles from where I live. They were in a refrigerated cooler he had on location.
I bought 5 lugs at 22 pounds (10 Kilos each) each for a total of 110 pounds or 50 kilos. The price was $142.50
The grapes were of good quality and no mold or rot.
The price is a little high - but local growers are charging almost the same thing here in Central Maryland and Northern Virginia - and you don't get a reusable lug.
The lugs are plastic and are reusable and stackable. I am going to use them when I harvest from my backyard vineyard this fall.
They had a stemmer crusher on location for use for free but I have one at home so I brought them home.
Here are the chemistries that I measured at home after crush.
Brix 23.0 pH 3.5 TA 0.063
I think this will make an excellent wine.
The distributor may have made a mistake but I thought I heard him say the brix was 26. I like
23 a LOT better than 26 Brix. If I wanted 26 or higher, I could get Central Valley California grapes and for less money.
I have found that some growers and distributors error on the high side when it comes to talking about the amount of sex they get and the Brix of their grapes :)
There are other locations located around the US that sell South American grapes. There was a list in I believe it was last month's "Wine Maker" Magazine - it may have been two issues ago.