Domingo Molina Cabernet Sauvignon `06 (not TJ's) gift/$19.99 ****

Repeat after me.  The grapes for this wine were harvested in April, 2006.  A spring harvest plays with my mind, but if I drink more wine like this I could easily adapt to the Southern Hemisphere's Autumn harvest in Spring.  Down in Salta, Argentina, the Brothers Molina are running an small, but nice Bodega.  I can't wait to try more of their wines.

This Cabernet is a deep berry, dusky flavorful wine that does Argentina proud.  It paired perfectly with our Grilled steak and pasta tossed with Marcella Hazan's Eggplant Sauce with Tomato and Red Chili Pepper.  The earthiness was a perfect foil for the high notes of the chili pepper in the pasta sauce, and the char from the grill on the steak, well... wasn't that was Cabernet was made for? We liked the spicy deep wine, and for some strange reason, I didn't even think to decant it. I think that it would decant well, and also that it is a wine that could stand to breath, and the spice would just mellow.  Maybe because our meal was so flavor forward, I didn't notice the wine opening up. It was good on the first pour.


Last Christmas, Lucie was coming to visit for a weekend in New York, between Polo Camp at El Venado in Argentina and home (London).  As she is the most wonderful house guest in the world (ok, I am biased), she brought wine.  Six months later, we are drinking it.

Thank you Lucie for picking up this tasty bottle of wine
after a week of polo!!

Graffigna Centenar Malbec `07 $9.99 (Not TJ's) ****

$9.99 @ the New Hampshire State Liquor Store on my way back from Thanksgiving at home in Maine.  WOW.  Little did I know what was lurking in the wine-rack waiting to be opened.

We had an ice storm over the past couple of days, and JPH made winter weather comfort food:  Pulled pork Enchiladas with a homemade red sauce.  When I got home from work he told me to pick a bottle to go with dinner.  I was thinking flavorful and rugged enough to stand up to chili sauce, so I went with Malbec.

Graffigna Centenar Malbec:  On my first sip, I was thinking that I chose wrong.  This is an amazingly smooth wine that it is more like a refined  Pinot Noir than an alcoholic Malbec.  Smooth, and 14% ETOH, makes it a really nice, easy drinking wine. I think that in my "Malbec Tasting Experiment" this is my favorite so far. Smooth, berries, slight tannin, dry, subtle. Dried cherry/blackberry with a smoky undercurrent.  It seems like this is an Ivy League Malbec with a foot in both worlds, Old and New; well read, refined, disciplined, but still ready for some down and dirty fun.

After aeration:  I used the Nuance and it lightened the wine, but it also flattened it a bit.  It opened up to some more complexity (oak and a hint of tobacco).  I am on the fence as to aerate it or not.  But that could be because the levels of complexity were blown out by the spiciness of the chili sauce.  JPH had beer and I think that he made the wise choice for this meal.  S. enjoyed the wine, but she also has a more developed/asbestos lined palate.

I am from Maine.  We like our food white there.  Lobster meat, potatoes, cod... you don't get much color in those. (I like to think that we save out color for sunrise on Seal Bay, Maine and Fall Foliage)  When I was growing up, garlic was considered exotic.

JPH & S. LOVE their chilis, they have exposed me to whole new world of endorphin raising capsicum. I just haven't adapted my palate to be able to taste wine AND hardcore chili peppers. I went running for the sour cream after my first bite of Red Chili Sauce, and well, my mouth never had a chance to recover. It was delicious, but also sweat inducing (which is just a sign that something's really, really good.)

In homage to their love of all things Southwest, 

here is last year's Chili Pepper Christmas wreath:
 

Catena Malbec `08 (not TJ's) £11.99/$19.20 ***

My Argentinian Malbec experiment is in London tonight.  We had venison steak with a red wine/cranberry sauce, baked potatoes and frozen solid peas. Dinner was rushed (hence the frozen peas - an English delicacy (unique to this family) because we were seeing an 8:00 showing of "The Kings Speech". (great movie btw, it deserves all of the Oscars that it is sure to get)

VCE served me a glass already vinturied. It was smooth, a bit dusky, rich with blackberry and current with a leathery/acidic finish.

It was interesting to have wine in reverse. After I finished my first glass, I tried the wine unaerated.  It was a bit rougher, still fruity with a leathery finish. 13.5% ETOH it is a good, robust, flavorful wine.  Two hours later when we got home from the movie, the wine was even better.  Moral of the story, DECANT THIS WINE.


Bodega Catena Zapata is an innovative Argentinian Winery that really is exemplary for a good transition from old world to new world wine.  They have taken a classic taste and made it their own. This Catena Malbec is an excellent wine. I can now officially say that I am a fan of Malbec on two continents.

My England/Argentina connection is in the picture below.  

I was lucky that Lucie came to visit on an extended stopover in NY
on her way back home to London
after a week of  Polo camp in Pila, Argentina.

She showed up with two bottles of Argentinian Malbec in hand,
and they are waiting back in NY in the rack to be reviewed.

Eagle's Rock Piedra del Aguila Malbec `08 $8.99 (not TJ's) *

I searched far and wide to find a saving grace for this wine.  So far, in the great Malbec Experiment, this is a total fail.  It smelled nice, was light, yet tasted of deep fruits (blackberry/tart raspberry) but it was dry, oh so very dry... puckeringly dry, and astringent and it made my throat burn. I think that I may try mulling it tomorrow to see if it can be saved.  FYI: Mulling is my last resort in the winter, Sangria in the summer.

After the vinturi: it goes smooth, velvety and then every imperfection that I tasted before was magnified.  Shudder.  DO NOT Aerate this wine.

This is a 100% Argentinian Malbec, estate bottled, from Mendoza with a pretty good pedigree. I just don't know enough about Malbec to understand where it went wrong.  Maybe this is their factory seconds wine, as I can't find it on their website but the provenance is clearly on the label (website and all). As for pairing, I surfed over to Dave the Wine Merchant and got his Slow Cooked Lamb Stew  recipe, the stew was great. I had some white rice and steamed green beans as an accompaniment, but I had to force myself to drink the first glass and the subsequent sip from the vinturied glass. I like Argentinian Malbec; I want to drink more of it and understand the varietal better. I just hope that the next bottle is better than this one.
  
Now for what makes me really sad about this wine.  I bought it when I went home to Maine.  We had made a quick stop at the Swan Lake Grocery Store, which was the penny candy, soda and ice cream supplying small town store of my childhood.  After a Summer's day of weeding the garden and then riding my bike to the lake to swim with friends, we could get snacks at the dam.  Then Robbie (he's a local success story) bought the store and morphed it into the supermarket that it is today.  Also, it is a literary low ball in my life, possibly my first noticing of a deliberate pun.  The store's logo is still "Best by a Dam Site" (due to its proximity to Swan Lake Dam). Robby's Store now caters to the locals and those with Summer camps around the lake.  He has an impressive selection of wine for the area.  I just wish that I had picked up a good bottle. It would have been a great bookend to my childhood memories of swimming in the lake with friends and then getting a cold Coke and ice cream, now to my adult memories of a good meal and a bottle of wine.  The next time I am home, I'll try again.

I am absolutely gobsmacked that Google Street Views has Swanville Maine, but here it is, in all of it's 

expanded glory: 

View Larger Map

Diseño Malbec `09 $12.49 (Not TJ's) ***

As I am just digging out from a big snowstorm and thought that today would be a fitting day to open one of the bottles I bought while I was at home for Thanksgiving. Holly and I were shopping for a party and I went to check out the wine aisle @ Hannaford Supermarket in Belfast, Maine. After a while perusing, I came back to the cart with this Malbec in hand.

I have to say that I am always impressed by the variety of wine that I find when I am mid-coast. (hmm, could that be an indicator of per capita high consumption?)  After opening this bottle, I was impressed by the quality as well. (High consumption & good taste - that is why I am proud to call Waldo County home - I'll add London & NY to that mix too. I belong to any place that has good wine and unconditional love).

Malbec:  A week of  tasting -  Review One
I chose Malbec to drink for a week because I want to get to know the varietal better.  I have a whole range of Malbec as far as price goes and was given one just off the plane from Argentina last week to add to the line up.

This was a great wine to start the week with.  On first pour, it was good.  Smooth, robust, slightly fruity (blackberries) with a hint of sweetness of chocolate in the finish. Very subtle tannins, I like it a lot. After the Vinturi:  don't do it.  This wine does not need to be aerated.  It made it bitter, still drinkable, but with a bite.  Just pour and swirl in you glass a bit and there you have it. 

This is a good sipping wine and a good dinner wine - for a flavorful dinner that is -  a wine like this could easily overpower something subtle, so serve it with burgers or steak or something substantial.  I keep reading that you should pair wine with food from the country of origin, so I guess that steak and chorizo are on the menu for this week.  Since the dog, cat and I are snowed in, I had to adapt some recipes for what ingredients I had on hand.  I Googleed to see if I could serve a Malbec with a cream sauce and I stumbled across an excellent food and wine pairing post by www.vinovixenz.com.  I made sausage and mushrooms in cream sauce, polenta and spinach with pine nuts for dinner.  It was great warming comfort food for a day of fighting with the snow-blower and shoveling.

Meanwhile, back to Diseño Malbec:
As I was researching this wine.  (yes, I research after I drink - I use the word research as a pretentious form of "Googled") I came across this review of the wine in the Memphis Review.  This is a production wine.  Not from any one vineyard, simply a producer that bought some grapes from two vineyards and made a good, cheap table wine.Well done Argentinian winemaker, buying your bottle in Belfast, Maine and then driving it down to Long Island made the final consumption even better.  (Sorry global warming, I owe you one!)

Here is the 12/26/10 Snowstorm, 

Before and After 

Enrique Foster IQUE Malbec $14.99 (Not TJ's) ***

This was my .99 cent bonus wine from Greenvale Grapes.  Since I was unhappy with the AtoZ Pinot Noir ($19.99) that it came with, my expectations were low.  I WAS WRONG. This is a really good Argentinian wine from Bodega Enrique Foster.  It is substantial, rich and flavorful.  There is no oak in this wine and the ripe fruit taste is some plum, maybe some blackberry, a high note of current and underneath is the threat of bitterness just to reminder you that you are drinking something with complex flavor. It has a tannic finish, but it is not dry. After the vinturi, I wanted to dance. It only got smoother and better. This is the type of wine that the vinturi was made for.  Elevating a good bottle to a very good bottle.

On the night we opened it, we had it with smoked meats braised in red cabbage and some mashed potatoes.  By the third night there was still wine in the bottle (Thursday was an away day*) we had four cheese pizza from Mr. Gennaro, and well, the wine didn't shine.  It still wasn't bad, but it is best to be had when you open it.  Don't let it sit around too long. 

This wine, although not earth shattering, is a very good bottle of plonk.  As I started writing this review it prompted me to make a couple of decisions.  First, I will take that vacation that I have been talking about.  Next year, I'll be able to spend 10 days drinking and touring my way around Argentina. Life is too short to not hit the road on an adventure every now and again and I can't wait to blog about some wines from their origins.  I like Argentinian wine. Well, I've only blogged about three, but there will be more!

Finally, I have chosen a varietal for my post Christmas experiment.  I'll drink Malbec as a single varietal and see how far I get. The plan is to buy one of every bottle of 100% Malbec at Trader Joes, one single bottle of mid priced Malbec from Greenvale Grapes, and one expensive one from Locu$st Valley (maybe I'll ask for that one for Christmas!).  The drinking of only Malbec will begin on 12/26.

*My "Away Day" was spent at an all day health insurance workshop in NYC.  After an eight hour meeting at Federal Plaza, I walked the length of Canal Street at sunset, window shopping and just soaking it all in. Here are some pictures I snapped with my blackberry of sidewalk vendors as I made my way to the Lower East Side for dinner...

Loca Linda Malbec `09 1L $19.99 (Not TJ's) ¢¢¢¢ (Makes $ense!)

Why being tempted with wine is a good thing....

Saturday lunch was a simple meal of leftover pizza.  Truth be told, I had scarfed my slices long before the rest of the household even thought of lunch, but, I joined them at the table for a small glass of chilled Jericho Apple Cider.  Then JPH pulled out this party sized (just under 1 1/2 bottles) bottle of Malbec, poured glasses for both S and himself (after I declined - after all, there is a party tonight...) and then left his glass a little too close to my 36" reach.  One sip and I was grabbing a glass.  Two sips and I was running to get the camera and then to the fridge for some cheese (this is a GREAT cheese wine) and well, here's the review...

The romanticism of wine is NOT over rated. This wine, straight from the bottle is a bold, unsweetened prune/ dried stone-fruit taste with a hint of smokiness, a peppery full finish with some oaky tannins and a nice acidic14% ETOH after burn.  Which translates into: This is a great wine for smoked meats and oily cheeses.

By the time we had taken the first picture and then gone back to the table, the wine opened up even more. The vinturi evened out the ETOH after-burn, and still left the high notes of the pepper and the deep dried stone-fruit smokiness.  JPH was spot on when he said that  it "blossomed".  Which, after finishing my first glass sent me running to the vinturi.  We pried S's glass away from her and forced her into a premature second glass of the aerated wine. The table reached consensus, it's a good wine to start and it gets better with aeration.

Round two:  Salad, Potatoes and Ham

This is a fun wine that brings a smile to my face.  The label reads "to be enjoyed with: Lovers, Family and Friends" well, that just was what I needed to hear.  The remainder of the bottle has been vacuumed and will come with us to tonight's Birthday Party. It is a family party, so bringing half a jug of wine is not frowned upon - and after all, isn't that just what this wine was made for?

Hours later...  The Malbec did indeed go well at the Birthday party.  Of course there was plenty of wine to be had, but those of us in the "know" had the Loca Linda. Good wine.  I recommend buying a bottle and throwing a party!

Finally, just because I feel like predicting a future trend, 

I'll leave you with "Birthday Pie" as requested by the Birthday Boy!
Cake is so passé.

La Posta Cocina Blanco de Blancos `09 (not TJ's) $21.99 ***(*)

It is all things Argentina for today's Sangria (Argentina and Mexico are facing off in the World Cup as I type this).  Of course, this bottle normally sells for around $15.00 (still too much for Sangria) but, I am on the Gold Coast of Long Island this weekend, and well, you have to pay the Locust Valley Premium.

Now for the wine.  It is a good crisp screw top white wine.  Refreshing, tart apple, crisp finish.  70% Chardonnay, 15% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Torrontes. It is the Torrontes (Argentinian grape) that gives this wine an interesting undertone (maybe lime? Citrus??). I'd love to try this wine with fish, but today's menu is all American Hamburgers and Hot Dogs.  It is 90 degrees here and we wanted a white sangria before we start dinner.

It is a solid three star wine for $21.99 if it were not bought for a Gold Coast Premium, I would make this a four star wine.  It certainly makes a GREAT yet expensive White Sangria!

Sangria:  Wine, sugar, Orange, Grapes, Asian Pear, White Peaches, Lemon Lime Seltzer

Menu:
Hotdogs (Karl Ehmer)
Cheeseburgers
Caprese Salad
Orchietti with Pesto
Caesar Salad