WBW #80 – Dry Rosé

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Sonadora

Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the importers.

As I mentioned last week, Wine Blogging Wednesday is back! Founded by Lenn almost a decade ago (ha! does that make some of the old-time wine bloggers feel even older?), WBW is a monthly wine event hosted by a different wine blogger every month. I’ve hosted a couple times in the past with great success, and we welcome WBW back after a nearly 2 year hiatus thanks to Tim of WineCast. For WBW #80, which I also think is technically the 9th anniversary of WBW, Tim chose Dry Rosé as the theme and simply asked us to review a dry rosé to review.

Easy peasy as far as I am concerned. Who doesn’t like rosé in the summer?  Here in DC, while we’ve been having an unexpectedly mild August (what’s up with that??), it’s still been plenty warm enough to bust out some rosé to beat the humidity, which is generally killer when you live in a swamp. In the summer.

For this milestone WBW, I chose the 2011 Michel Torino Malbec Rose.  It’s a wine from Wildman Selections, clocks in at 13.5% alcohol by volume, has a Nomacorc closure (which I just learned about when I attended Drink Local Wine this spring), and retails for about $15.

Four takeaways from this wine:

1.) While it has some tannins on the finish, the acidity is there and it is well-balanced.

2.) I enjoyed the dried cherries and herbal notes on this wine.

3.) While we enjoyed this rocking in our Adirondack chairs on the front porch (did I not mention that I turned 70 lately?? 😉 ) I thought it would be great with my signature BBQ ribs.

4.) I’m not sure I’ve ever had a Malbec Rosé before, but I’m intrigued and would definitely try another.

On the nose I got juicy raspberries, dried cherries, and herbal notes. In the mouth I found cherry, raspberry, blackberry, and herbs. Overall, the wine struck me as light, bright, dry, and refreshing with good acidity that made it perfect for a hot day.

Many thanks to Tim for hosting, and, as always, a tip of the hat to our founder Lenn!

 

 

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I liked this one

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample to participate in a Wines of Argentina Taste Live event.

Here’s a wine from this tasting I will recommend wholeheartedly. The 2009 Crios Malbec Rose. I found this wine to be quite interesting, retailing at a good price point, and definitely something I would personally purchase. The Crios clocked in at 13.9% alcohol by volume, had a screw cap closure, and retails for around $12.

The nose of the wine smelled slightly meaty to me (not a bad thing, I promise) and looked like melted watermelon. What an awesome color. On the nose I found berry, cherry, spice, white pepper, and vanilla. In the mouth I got strawberries, ripe cherries, very ripe red fruit, and spice. It was juicy with good acidity and struck me as fantastic for the meltingly hot weather I tasted it in.

Filed under: Argentina, Malbec, Rose, Wine | 1 Comment »

Not my favorite

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Gallo Family Wines

We pulled a 2008 Alamos Malbec from Argentina out of the basement the other night. It retails for about $13, clocks in at 13.5% alcohol by volume, and had a Diam closure. On first sniff I was turned off by this wine. It smelled overly sweet and what people often call “spoofy.” I got sweetened black fruit, sweet oak, sweet berries, chocolate, and pepper. The nose was so sweet smelling. I should come up with a better descriptor, but really, sweet is all I have to offer. In the mouth the fruit showed a bit tarter, but not much. Blackberry, black cherry, and oak are all I got on the palate. I found it to be simple and too sweet for my taste. NMS.

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Trumpets Blaring

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Pasternak Wine Imports

This wine has it all for $8. I don’t drink much Malbec from Argentina. I often find them to be just a bit too brash and wild for my taste. However, this Malbec had everything I like about Malbec and a great price tag! The 2007 Trumpeter Malbec retails for about $8, had a real cork closure, and clocked in at 13% alcohol by volume.

On the nose I got pencil lead, plum, blackberry, black fruit, earth, black raspberry, and spice. The fruit seemed bright and fresh.  In the mouth I got black cherry, spice, graphite, earth, black fruit, plum, and other dark fruits. This inky, dark wine delivered a dark, dense body in the mouth and a nose I wouldn’t to keep smelling, all for $8.

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In the Spice Rack

Posted on October 18, 2009 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Bin Ends Wine in order to participate in the Wines of Argentina Twitter Taste Live.

More Malbec! More Argentinian wines! They are like the Energizer Bunny around here, they keep coming and coming and coming.  Never fear, some day soon (very soon) I will be taking a rest from Argentina and then I have some excellent Rieslings that I can’t wait to share with you and I will be off to Portugal in a mere 10 days! Today I’m telling you about the 2006 Graffigna Malbec Grand Reserve.  It had a real cork closure, clocked in at 14.5% alcohol by volume, and retails for around $20.

On the nose I found pepper, spice, herbs, cumin, pencil lead, black plum, black fruit, grilled meat, slight black cherry, an entire spice and herb rack, and bubblegum.  Think a giant pink wad of BubbleYum. (Is that even made anymore?)  In the mouth I got cherry, blackberries, plums, all of which seemed extremely tart, spice, and a little earth.  The palate showed almost entirely tart fruit and seemed quite tight.

Filed under: Argentina, Bin Ends Wine, Malbec, Red, Wine | 2 Comments »

More Malbec

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Bin Ends Wine in order to participate in the Wines of Argentina Twitter Taste Live.

Lots and lots and lots of Malbec.  Malbec everywhere! I suppose it is one of Argentina’s signature grapes, so it makes sense as to why we tasted so many over the course of the Wines of Argentina Twitter Taste Lives.  More Malbec than I’ve ever tasted though!  On the 3rd night of the TTL series, we tried the 2006 Alfa Crux O. Fournier Malbec.  It had a real cork closure, clocked in at 14.5% alcohol by volume, and retails for around $37.

On the nose of the Alfa Crux I found blackberry, blueberry, plum, black cherry, spice, cinnamon, and smoke.  My notes say “I want to go swimming in this juicy black fruit.”  (Wondering how late into the evening I was typing up those notes….!)  In the mouth I got the same black fruits as the nose, some essence of a blueberry/blackberry pie/crumble, spice, and a little earth. Overall, I really liked this one, especially the nose.

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An Argentinian Explosion!

Posted on October 3, 2009 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Bin Ends Wine in order to participate in the Wines of Argentina Twitter Taste Live.

I still have about 6 more Argentinian wines to review from all the Wines of Argentina Twitter Taste Lives I participated in! I managed to actually be around for all four, so that represented a wide selection of Argentinian wines…more than I had ever tasted before!  Overall I was really happy with the Malbecs even though I’m not typically a huge Malbec person….perhaps these events will have swayed me!  On the 3rd night (I think) we tried the 2007 Jean Bousquet Reserva Malbec. It had a Diam closure, clocked in at 14.5% alcohol by volume, and retails for around $20.

Immediately upon sniffing the wine I thought “cedar chest.” I also found crushed flowers, pencil lead, spice, raspberry, fig, forest floor, anise, cinnamon, and herbs.  This nose seemed totally different from any Malbec I’ve ever had before.  In the mouth I got cedar, blackberry, anise, raspberry, blackberry, dusty tannins, and pencil lead.  The mouth almost felt reserved in a way to me, and it definitely had tannins to spare.

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Malbec on My Mind

Posted on October 2, 2009 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Bin Ends Wine in order to participate in the Wines of Argentina Twitter Taste Live.

Now, I”ll be the first to admit that Malbec doesn’t usually float my boat.  I often find them to be overoaked, tannic beasts that just don’t seem balanced for me.  (And this coming from me, well known to appreciate BIG wines.)  We tried many Malbecs in the course of the Argentina Twitter Taste Lives and I found some that I really enjoyed! Including this one, the 2006 Trapiche Federico Villafane Malbec.  It had a real cork closure, clocked in at 14.5% alcohol by volume, and I see it available for about $40.

I would pay $40 for this.  I found it to be intensely concentrated with complex layers, well worth the price point in my opinion.  On the nose I got blueberry compote, berries in the hot sun right off the bush, pencil lead, spice, dusty tannins, cedar spice, cloves, and chocolate.  In the mouth I found blueberry, blackberry, black cherry, chocolate, spice, earth, smoke, and vanilla cream. Overall, the wine had a juicy quality but with plenty of structure to spare. Like dessert in a glass!

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Pie Pie Pie

Posted on September 26, 2009 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Bin Ends Wine in order to participate in the Twitter Taste Live.

Oh yes folks, I promised lots of Argentina and here’s some more! Hope you aren’t tired yet cause I found some real winners among the Argentinian wines, and this is one of them! I have no idea why I never really explored Argentina before for good bargain wines…between Chile and Argentina, it appears South America is primed to take over the bargain $10-$20 sweet spot for wines.  We had another Malbec for the first Twitter Taste Live, the 2007 Bodega Colomé Malbec Estate.  It had a real cork closure and weighed in at 15% alcohol by volume.

On the nose I got blueberry, blueberry crumble, cream, white pepper, crushed violets, black cherry, and boysenberry.  I want my next pie to smell like the nose of this wine.  In the mouth, I found it to be almost Syrah like.  I found black plum, black cherry, more blueberry crumble, pepper, blueberry, boysenberry, earth, and a little anise.  It had a long finish with some tannins hanging out on the end.  YUM!

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Diving into Argentina

Posted on September 24, 2009 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample form Bin Ends Wine in order to participate in the Twitter Taste Live.

For the last month, I’ve spent my Wednesday evenings having an affair with Argentinian wines. The theme for Twitter Taste Live all this month has been wines from Argentina.  In the past I haven’t had many wines from Argentina, so I was excited to spend this month getting to know them a little better.  You’ll be seeing a ton of Argentinian wines around the wine blog in the next few weeks as I finally get around to writing my reviews.  The first wine I want to tell you about is the 2008 Bodegas Etchart Reserve Malbec. It had a real cork closure and weighed in at 14% alcohol by volume.

On the nose I got espresso, bittersweet chocolate, herbs, spice, pepper, dark black fruit, plums, apple cider (yea, I realize that’s odd and out of place), earth, cloves, wood. I said in my notes “this smells like Christmas!”  In the mouth I found black cherry, black plum, tart fruit, almost some red fruit on the edges, pepper, spice, earth, and tobacco. The palate on this wine was TOTALLY different from the nose! I enjoyed it though.

Filed under: Argentina, Malbec, Red, Wine | 1 Comment »

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