Decant Stop Tasting Wine Blog

First off, we probably shouldn’t have openned this wine yet… 2007 vintage, red, France… bad idea.  Anyway, we were mixed on this wine… I like it, Rika doesn’t.  For her I think there isn’t enough fruit.  In a way, I agree… but then, it is complex, dry, and there’s nothing foul about it.  It is a dark garnet color with a violet fringe.  It looks dark, but doesn’t taste that dark.  It has an interesting nose, that you’ll mostly appreciate after a couple of days of decanting (or wait a few years to open it), with flowers, spices, citrus, cedar, and wild berries.  The vegetal component is immediately evident as soon as the wine touches your tounge, but is soon mixed with leather, wood (not really oak), and a variety of subtle fruit flavors, fairly evenly mixed red, blue and black.  There is some acidity, good enough for medium weight meals.  On the finish I like the spices that linger, with cherry, tobacco, and… some kind of wood.  I’m not a fan of oak in my wine, and I’m not saying this wine is oakey, but I can’t escape the taste of some sort of wood.  I get a little flashback from when I was a little boy… and chewed on a piece of wood from time to time.  I guess I liked it.  I guess I still do!  I’m giving it a combined rating between mine and Rika’s… because that’s how we roll.

Rating:  88

Price:  Paid $10 (K&L)  Retails for $17

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My experience with this wine is a lot like this…

You don’t have anything planned for Friday night.  You’re at the library checking out your books when you notice the librarian is kinda cute.  (If you’re a female reading this, just substitute the librarian for a computer geek) Very cliche, I know, but her fashion sense is off and she’s fairly shy, but she’s got a nice smile, so you decide to ask her out, if nothing else than to have something to do Friday night.  She giggles and says sure, you exchange numbers and you’re on your way.

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The nose have it!  Big black fruit aroma, with a little smoke, spice, and veggies.  Mouth-feel is solid, lush, with light to medium acidity.  This wine is BIG on fruit!  Black plum, black and blue berries… you can imagine that the grapes themselves must have been heavenly delicious.  Nice long finish.  Goes great with Gumbo!  A big recommend for the price!

Rating:  91

Price:  $13

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Yet another value driven Argentine Malbec from the Mendoza appellation.  Deep purple colored and perfumy, floral, very slight oak, and cassis on the nose.  Tasted dark fruit, plum, toasty oak, medium tannin, and black raspberry.  Mouth-feel was medium acidity, ripe tannins… nice.  Finished with plum peel, black pepper, and cedar.  A good value at $9

Rating:  88

Price:  $9

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From the Maipu Valley, Argentina comes this delicious medium ruby red Malbec that is sure to impress for a $9 wine.  The aroma was grass, bowl of uncut citrus, and and bright red fruit.  There was a nice balance of oak, smokiness, tangerine, and red plum for flavor.  Also, the mouth-feel was medium tannins and light acid.  The finish was mostly of the tangerine aspect lingering.

Really different for an Argentine Malbec… most of the ones we’ve tried so far tended to be more of the black fruit variety and not really that complex – well structured.  They’re always nice to drink mind you, but this one was not only nice to drink, but thought provoking.  A great effort in a $9 wine.

Rating:  89

Price:  $9

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This is an Italian Malbec from the Venezie region.  This one isn’t bad, easy to drink.  Not a lot of nose, but a full, well rounded flavor, rich with fruit, moderate depth and complexity, and enough tannin to make it a decent wine.  Not a lot of lingering on the tongue, but enough to go well with food.  It will go well with a wide variety of foods, as long as they are not too bold.  The color is nice as well.  Not a bad wine for the price – $5, but for the same money, I’d probably pick others.  I wouldn’t discourage anyone from trying it.

Rating:  81