Argento Malbec (2008)

Wine tasting 6

Malbec is starting to become a wine that is appearing more and more on my wine tasting radar. So far we've tasted 3 Malbec's, and they've all scored between 3 and 3 1/2 stars. Not excellent, but OK. If you're a Malbec fan, I'd recommend this wine because it was really good. Not fantastic, but with the right meal, who knows...

Panel's rating: 3,48 out of 5




Country: Medoza, Argentina
Grape: 100% Malbec
Price: 79SEK

Colour: Dark, blue red colour.

Nose: Very fruity aroma with hints of barrel, blackberries, herbs and pepper. Deep dark violet in colour and offers powerful aromas of blackstone fruit and notes of chocolate.

Taste: Very fruity taste with hints of barrel, blackberries, grass and vanilla. Blackberry and black currant fruit is complimented with a touch of sweet spice and leads into a lingering finish with ripe velvety tannins.

Some more info: The word Argento, meaning silver in Latin, is often used colloquially in Argentina to refer to a thing or a person that is quintessentially Argentine.

Masi Tupungato - Pasto Doble (2007)

Wine tasting 4

Here's a wine that was in a single word, weird. The label is plain with a sort-of hand written label and plain green colouring. On the night is was just so, so and scored 3 stars from everyone. There was half a bottle left when the night was done, which does not happen often. I tried the wine exactly a week later and it was fantastic. Smooth and very tasty. This for me just means that the wine didn't breathe enough when we had it. I would buy this bottle again, but decant it about 3-5 hours before having it. Not sure it'll work with a meal though, but perhaps some snacks and a night of playing cards.

Panel's rating: 3,09 out of 5




Price: 89SEK
Country: Argentina
Grape: 62% Malbec, 30% Corvina och 8% Merlot

Colour: Dark, purple Colour

Nose: Very fruity, spicy aroma with barrel character, elements of dark cherry, plum, licorice and tobacco

Taste: Fruity, spicy wine barrel character, plums, dark cherries, herbs, licorice and tobacco

The first wine tasting

The first wine tasting has come and gone, and it was fantastic. I learnt so much, and was introduced to so many new wines and new tastes. Just to recap, we were 8 people, which meant 8 wines. Each person gave me a bottle of wine of their choice one week before, which I then "prepared" for the night, after reading up on them a bit.  A blind tasting of 8 bottles of wine. The wines were from Australia, Germany, Argentina, Spain, France, South Africa and Italy. The prices ranged from 58kr to 105kr and we tasted 2 whites and 6 reds.

The night was also one where we had fantastic home baked bread and excellent cheeses to accompany each wine and give the taste buds a break in between each bottle. You can read more about the format here. Here's the "esteemed" panel, deliberating during the night.

Raza Malbec (La Riojana) (2007)

Wine tasting 1

Real value for money and finally an acceptable ecological wine.

Panel's rating: 3 out of 5




Price: 59SEK
Country: Argentina
Grape: Malbec

Colour: Dark red-brownish | From purple down to a dark red | Dark red | Burgundy purplish | Dark and strong | Close to purple | Currants

Nose: Alcohol, spicy with cherry and vanilla | Slightly acidic, clear, easy and healthy | Warm and sweet | Cherries and a bit sour | Dates

Taste: Cherry stones with lots of tannins | Light with a semi-long taste and tight cherry pips | Cherries with some tannins | Small spices at the end | Liqurice and sweet cherries | Sherry and vanilla | Savoury, bitter and volatile.