Taking the lead this week as our wine sommelier is the beautiful and talented velvetjones! (The crowd goes wild.) Last week’s very interesting wine thread is here, and the spreadsheet of what we’ve done and drunk so far is here.
As usual, all Dopers are welcome regardless of past participation. Each of the threads links to the last week’s thread, so if you’re bored and you’ve got a lot if time, you can read them all. (Or you can just look at the spreadsheet.) How it works is: We start the thread and announce the sommelier. He or she has a week to decide on a wine and post it, which should be done by next Thursday-ish. (All wine-club deadlines are “ish”.) Then we all have a week to comment, exclaim, swoon, or spit, and then the following Thursday a new thread goes up.
Which brings up another minor issue: Because I will be out of town and off teh internets the week of October 9th, I will be unable to post the next week’s thread, which is scheduled to go up on October 11th or thereabouts. Any volunteers to post the next thread? First one to yell dibs gets the job and my thanks.
And I had a nice post all ready last night when the Board decided to take a break. Frustrating, that’s what that was.
But here I am! Thanks for the reminder flickster I do appreciate it.
I’ve been pondering this for a while and really want to pick something that we haven’t seen before and something that’s a personal favorite. I think I’ve figured out what that is.
My pick for Week 19 is…(drum roll please)…
Terrazas 2005 Malbec Argentina. (or 2006 if you can’t find 05)
And there’s a bit of a story.
A couple of Christmases ago my local Publix supermarket had a free standing display of a number of different wines. Nothing that I’d heard of before. I spied the Terrazas 2002 Malbec and decided to pick it up because it was inexpensive and I’d never tried it and I figured that if I hated it I was only blowing $10.99. I loved it! It’s rich, plenty of dark fruit flavors but also a bit of leather/tobacco/oakiness. Well balanced and delicious.
Alas then Christmas was over and I never saw it again until my band started playing at a place called Urban Flats in Winter Park. They had it. Yay! Every time I go there I have a glass. Not the same vintage but always excellent.
I’ve since learned that Argentina is the place for Malbec and I’ve like almost every Argentinian Malbec I’ve tried.
If you can’t find Terrazas Malbec might I suggest Bodega Norton 2005 Malbec also from Argentina (and there’s a story about this too)
Shortly after we tasted the Terrazas for the first time we had dinner out at a tapas restaurant called Ole Ole in Winter park. They had the Bodega Norton Malbec on the wine list and we decided to try it since we’d found we really liked Malbec. They also had the Bodega Norton Reserva. The sommelier let us take a taste of both and interestingly enough we liked the regular Bodega Norton Malbec better than the Reserva. It was more balanced.
I’ve had this one before, and in fact have another bottle in my wine cellar already! That makes things easy. Malbecs are great wines and are just becoming popular-- they can easily stand up to steak dinner as well as a Cab can.
For those who can’t find this particular one, just make sure you get one from the Mendoza region of Argentina. I’d recommend Famiglia Bianchi, if you can find it (which means I won’t be using that one as my suggestion in a few weeks when it’s my turn, as I had planned ).
Flickster: I’ve had the La Posta, too. That’s another good one!
Yes, I’m in a band. I front a jazz quartet, I’m the singer and my husband is the drummer. Jazz standards, nothing too out. We gig mostly in and around Central Florida but have aspirations toward travelling. We’re quite serious about the music but I haven’t quit my day job yet (it is paying the bills quite nicely). I’m fairly certain that my web site is in my profile. There’s audio and video on the web site right on the first page and then if you click on the music link there’s more audio clips. We also have a MySpace page and a CD on CD Baby links to both on the web site. Feel free to email me and let me know what you think. I don’t talk about it much on here because I don’t want to come across as trying to use the board to promote my group.
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Thanks John Mace I forgot about the Mendoza thing but that does make a difference.
Picked up a bottle of the 2006 this afternoon ($7.95) I also picked up a bottle of the Reserva - 2005 ($17.29). I’ll let you know what I think of the difference.
Good news. Last night I was out near a wine shop that usually has a good selection of Malbecs. I was not disappointed; I picked up both the 2005 Terrazas Reserva ($17.99) and the 2005 Norton Reserva ($11.99). Having extra Malbec in the house is always a good thing! I’ve had the Norton before (not the Reserva), and liked it, so I’m not worried about liking these.
I probably won’t have them open side by side, but rather one at a time fairly close together. So, probably late this week or else this weekend.
In cases of comparison like this, I like to start with the less expensive selection. If I started with the pricier wine (assuming that the cost was commensurate with the quality) I would worry about then focusing on the deficiencies of the lesser priced wine. This way I can instead decide whether the added quality justifies the additional cost.
Paired it with a Salsa Chicken Rice Casserole. Normally I would have gone with a White or Rose but the Malbec was an excellent choice with the spiciness of the salsa and seasoning of the casserole.
Very nice. Dark and smooth. I would rate this as the best value priced Malbec that I have sampled to date.
Tried the Reserva last night. Possibly has a little more of an edge from the oak tannins. Still enjoyable, but I think I prefer the standard Terrazas Malbec - especially when you factor in the price difference. Looking forward to hearing opinions from folks who also sampled both.
that’s exactly what we thought when we tried both the Bodega Norton Malbecs. We found the reserva was less soft, more tannins, not quite as fruit forward and, yes, given the price difference the regular was a better buy. Interesting.
I’ve been lurking in these Wine Club threads all year, so I’d be prepared with good choices for a function I’m hosting at my home on Monday.
We got a new wine shop in town, which I was curious to try. I went by there today and didn’t find the Terrazas, but the shop fellow recommended a 2005 Navarro Correas Malbec ($11.84). While I was there I got a previous pick (Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc) and a California Viognier. I can’t wait to try them!
Also: the shop fellow recommended pouring a glass of the Malbec and letting it sit for a few minutes before trying it. Any recommendations on how long to let it breathe (in the bottle) before serving it?
