Week Seven - Out of Argentina

I’ve been eyeing this week’s bottles in the store since I started this blog and was excited to finally try them this week. I chose two Malbec wines, both produced in the Mendoza region of Argentina. After looking this area up on a map, I found that it’s in the far west of the country and centrally located from north to south. The area is very close to Chile and lies in the eastern foothills of the Andes mountains.

Malbec is a grape that was originally widely used in Bordeaux but has now becoming almost synonymous with Argentinean wine. In Argentina if a wine is labeled as Malbec, it is made 100% from that varietal so these were both good examples of the grape’s product.

We opened these bottles on Tuesday night and had prepared pasta with a spicy tomato sauce for dinner. Both wines held up to the strong flavors in the food, though the Norton tended to pair with it a little better. Later that evening Matt’s mom and two friends joined us and we tasted them both again and shared the wine – both bottles were a hit!

The first bottle I tasted was the 2006 El Ganador. The wine paired nicely with food and drank well on its own. There was nothing abrupt about this wine and our guests all enjoyed it as well. I tended to like this one a little better than the next simply because its fruit felt really balanced.

The Bottle: 2006 El Ganador Malbec

Price: $9.99
Would I Buy This Wine Again: Definitely and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to get acquainted with Malbecs. This would be a great wine to buy for a party - a real crowd pleaser.

The second bottle was the 2007 Norton Malbec. Norton is recognized as one of the major players in Argentinean winemaking and this was a fine example. I really got a sense of the oak on the nose and found this wine to be a bit more tannic than the El Ganador. However, the more striking features of this wine seemed to complement our spicy pasta sauce well.

The Bottle: 2007 Norton Malbec

Price: $9.99
Would I Buy This Wine Again: I believe I would. It seemed a little more distinctive than the El Ganador so might not appeal quite as widely, but a very good wine for people who appreciate a bit more earthy sharpness in a wine.

Source
Robinson, J. (2006). The Oxford Companion to Wine. USA: Oxford University Press .

Week Six - Rioja At Last

Matt making morel mushrooms

After several Spanish wines we have at last arrived in Rioja - perhaps the most well renowned wine producing region in Spain. I was excited about this pick - Montebuena 2006 - which Matt chose during a visit to Big Red last weekend. The wine is made entirely from Tempranill0 grapes. Unfortunately, I came down with a crazy cold/flu this week and didn't get to fully enjoy it.

We tasted it earlier in the week at a time when I couldn't taste or smell anything. Matt and I each drank a glass but didn't get much of a chance to review it. We drank it last night with pizza and still I wasn't impressed. This evening I picked up a few (10) morel mushrooms. They're in season right now though I can't seem to find them on my own and resort to paying outrageous prices for a handful of these delicious mushrooms. We sauteed them in a little butter and for the first time I enjoyed the Montebuena with the morels.

The most striking thing about this wine for me was the color in the glass; it's a very deep red. There is a big fruit on the nose and then intense tannins on the finish. The finish felt a little unbalanced but with something as rich as sauteed morel mushrooms it was just right.

The Bottle: 2006 Montebuena

Price: $9.99
Would I Buy This Wine Again: Probably not - it was a little off balance and I already have a number of better balanced wines at this price point that I find better than this one.

Week Five - Flowers and Fruit

The flowers in the title of week five come from the amazing label on this bottle. I have to admit that I am as taken by a beautiful label as anything else but have learned to control the urge to just buy pretty bottles. Fortunately, this one came recommended as well so it was a win win situation.

This wine is made of Primitivo grapes which I learned are genetically identical to Zinfandel. Another interesting fact is that they both originated from Croatia. This is great news for me as I really enjoy red Zin! I tried only a bit of this wine before making good tasting notes to blog about. Matt opened the bottle when I was out of town and so I'm relying on his words for the verdict. When I asked him to describe he simply offered up the description of spicy. Though the Primitivo vary from Zinfandel grapes because of where they're grown (Primitivo in Italy and Zin often in California) they were more similar than different.

The Bottle: 2007 Cortenova Primitivo

Price: $9.99
Would I Buy This Wine Again: Good food wine in a pretty package - of course!

Week Four - Still in Spain

These past two weeks have been peppered with an out of town wedding and the running of a half marathon. Though I didn't get the blog posts up as soon as I would have liked I certainly still continued to drink my $10 bottles!

During week four we enjoyed two more Spanish wines both still from the Calatayud DO. Upon the recommendation from a helpful employee at the local Big Red Liquor Store I chose two to taste against one another.

I first tasted the 2006 Tres Ojos red, this is the same Tres Ojos whose rose I tasted in week three. Its labeled as "old vine" and they really are - Kysela's website notes that the vines are at least 40 years old and some more than 50. It's worth visiting the Tres Ojos link I provided in week three to read more about this vineyard and see the pictures of the vines. They're stout bush vines with no trellis. Tasting notes indicated that it had a peppery spicy bouquet. For some reason when nosing this wine it made me think of a big Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner. After tasting it, the richness of the finish went right along with this perception. It was very nice and would be a great accompaniment to a large meal with heavy meat; this wine will stand up well.

The Bottle: 2006 Tres Ojos Old Vine Garnacha

Price: $9.99
Would I Buy This Wine Again: Not everyday because it is a pretty big wine, but perfect for a big meal.

The second wine we tried in week four was the 2006 Tinto Figaro Red Wine. Though the bottle gives no indication of the grape, the website below indicates it's 100% Garnacha. Matt tasted this one first and then we traded. After trying the Tres Ojos this one didn't quite measure up. However had I tasted it alone I think I would have been pleased. Drinking it later in the week I actually enjoyed it a bit more. I might recommend letting this wine sit in your glass for about 10 minutes before drinking it; a little oxygen goes a long way with this one. This one had a little spice to it but I definitely picked up on more of the fruit. We ended up enjoying this on the porch without food several times throughout the week and found it to be pleasing.

Another great resource from Kysela: http://www.kysela.com/spain/figaro.htm

The Bottle: 2006 Tinto Figaro Red Wine

Price: $9.99
Would I Buy This Wine Again: Probably won't be a standard go to wine but I would buy it again from time to time.