eternumviti
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Big tea bags containing oak chips. 'Orrible.
Christmas Wine II
- Thread starter Dogberry
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SteveG
pfm Member
Do we have a tip for a decent Malbec? I'm down to the last couple of bottles from the stocks I brought back last time I was in France (from one of the vineyards near Rauzan, not far from Saint-Emilion).
Dogberry
pfm Member
I thought it was microplastics.
John Phillips
pfm Member
FYI, my own very recent venture into trying Argentinian Malbec from D.V. Catena was OK but not encouraging according to my notes:
- Catena Alta Historic Rows Malbec 2017 - Waitrose £24 - "Acceptable to good. Better but worth so more than the cheaper version just below?"
- D.V. Catena Malbec Catena Zapata 2019 - Sainsbury's £10 - "Acceptable but not great."
According to CellarTracker (thanks @Marchbanks for the introduction!), I have 31 Malbecs in the cellar. I freely admit I am a Malbec bore (but not to the exclusion of other wines/grapes). Some that I might put forward for you to consider:
Bramare from Viña Cobos; there is a second wine, Felino, which I don't like as much, but it is perfectly drinkable.
Matias Riccitelli Malbec is well worth a go if you can track some down (it's sometimes called Vineyard Selection Malbec).
Mendel, their Unus and Finca Remota are good.
Pulenta, for me, anything by them is worth trying, be it straight Malbec or the Gran Corte blend, which I just love.
I've recently rediscovered Sottano's Judas - very, very good and a cool label if you're into minimalist design and typography.
Zuccardi Malbec Aluvional is also very good.
The "standard" Catena Malbec is good for the money, and if you go up the chain to the Nicolás Catena Zapata and the other "named" vineyard/parcel bottlings the price goes up, but few of them are poor. An Adrianna from the early noughties was one of the nicest Malbecs I've ever drunk. I'll caveat by adding that it was in Buenos Aires, with good friends, the parrilla going, the sun shining, it wasn't the first bottle... you get the idea!
A couple of left field suggestions: Bodegas Renacer make a Malbec-based Amarone style wine that is very enjoyable. It originally was issued as Enamore, but it is now called Milamore.
Dornier, down in South Africa, have a rather nice Malbec too. I've yet to find a French one that I like as much as the Argentineans - but it could be personal bias, I speak better Spanish than I do French.
If you get bored of Malbec, or feel like a lateral move, Bonarda (another transplant grape that is widely grown in Argentina) is also worth looking into. My current favourite is Emma by Zuccardi.
Bramare from Viña Cobos; there is a second wine, Felino, which I don't like as much, but it is perfectly drinkable.
Matias Riccitelli Malbec is well worth a go if you can track some down (it's sometimes called Vineyard Selection Malbec).
Mendel, their Unus and Finca Remota are good.
Pulenta, for me, anything by them is worth trying, be it straight Malbec or the Gran Corte blend, which I just love.
I've recently rediscovered Sottano's Judas - very, very good and a cool label if you're into minimalist design and typography.
Zuccardi Malbec Aluvional is also very good.
The "standard" Catena Malbec is good for the money, and if you go up the chain to the Nicolás Catena Zapata and the other "named" vineyard/parcel bottlings the price goes up, but few of them are poor. An Adrianna from the early noughties was one of the nicest Malbecs I've ever drunk. I'll caveat by adding that it was in Buenos Aires, with good friends, the parrilla going, the sun shining, it wasn't the first bottle... you get the idea!
A couple of left field suggestions: Bodegas Renacer make a Malbec-based Amarone style wine that is very enjoyable. It originally was issued as Enamore, but it is now called Milamore.
Dornier, down in South Africa, have a rather nice Malbec too. I've yet to find a French one that I like as much as the Argentineans - but it could be personal bias, I speak better Spanish than I do French.
If you get bored of Malbec, or feel like a lateral move, Bonarda (another transplant grape that is widely grown in Argentina) is also worth looking into. My current favourite is Emma by Zuccardi.
John Phillips
pfm Member
Many thanks. I have not seriously ventured before into Malbec territory before, so perhaps my palate need some more education to understand what Malbec is about before I come to any judgement. I think that's what I shall do.
PsB
Citizen of Nowhere™
My recent dips into Malbec have been a couple of bottles of Cahors. I was introduced to Château Lagrezette by an Australian friend years ago. It’s sort of new world style: big, a bit brash, very enjoyable with steak or duck. I had bought a mix of 2009 and 2011 at their shop cunningly located by the lovely bridge in Cahors, in 2016 or 2017. I preferred the younger wine, and had gone drunk or given away most of the 2011, but I’d forgotten a couple of cases in my sister in law’s basement, which does not qualify as a good ancestral cellar. So I was curious to taste the results after recovering the bottles recently. The 2009 was very pleasant, quite smooth, but seemed to rather fall apart after a few hours of airing - maybe past its peak already. The 2011 was still superior, but the decanted sample was not as good as the bottled sample. Both samples were worse the next day. So my tentative conclusion is these wines are fairly spectacular but peak quickly, 5 to 10 years max. Cahors ain't what it used to be, at least not from this producer.
All this talk about Malbec/Bonarda has prompted me to open a Zin. Not my usual Ridge but a Frog's Leap. Maybe the name reveals that it doesn't take itself too seriously but tbh I am quite impressed. Earlier to mature than a Ridge helps.
These blockbuster 14-15% wines are all very well but what I really want to buy next is some lower alcohol reds, 12-13%, that taste great. Not easy.
These blockbuster 14-15% wines are all very well but what I really want to buy next is some lower alcohol reds, 12-13%, that taste great. Not easy.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
Sorry I’m late to the Malbec party. I had to sell my soul to The Man today. Repairs to the battlements don’t pay for themselves (at least not since English Heritage rumbled my two sets of books.)
Like @BTC3 I like the offerings of the Young And Exciting Matias Riccitelli. Not altogether surprising, since it was he that first pointed me in that direction. I picked up half a dozen in a Majestic clearance sale not long ago. I also quite like the Waitrose Colomé offering, but again I hoovered mine up in an Xmas sale a couple of years ago. The Baldès Malbec du Clos (I think it’s called that) from Waitrose gets my vote too. And I have high hopes for something called Belasco de Baquedano Malbec AR Guentota Lujan de Cuyo that has been arriving imminently from L&W for six months now.
TBH I’ve got a bit of a crush on Tannat these days, which I’d find tricky to separate from Malbec in most circumstances. Apart from Montus and Bouscassé I’ve been really impressed by Uruguayan versions from Bouza and Alto de la Ballena. Mention them with a knowing wink at your next Wine Circle tasting. Then when your friends catch on in a few months, tell them sadly that’s all a bit passé now, the big news on Jeb Dunnock’s Twitter feed is Peruvian Carménère.*
*as far as I know this is only a figment of my imagination.
Like @BTC3 I like the offerings of the Young And Exciting Matias Riccitelli. Not altogether surprising, since it was he that first pointed me in that direction. I picked up half a dozen in a Majestic clearance sale not long ago. I also quite like the Waitrose Colomé offering, but again I hoovered mine up in an Xmas sale a couple of years ago. The Baldès Malbec du Clos (I think it’s called that) from Waitrose gets my vote too. And I have high hopes for something called Belasco de Baquedano Malbec AR Guentota Lujan de Cuyo that has been arriving imminently from L&W for six months now.
TBH I’ve got a bit of a crush on Tannat these days, which I’d find tricky to separate from Malbec in most circumstances. Apart from Montus and Bouscassé I’ve been really impressed by Uruguayan versions from Bouza and Alto de la Ballena. Mention them with a knowing wink at your next Wine Circle tasting. Then when your friends catch on in a few months, tell them sadly that’s all a bit passé now, the big news on Jeb Dunnock’s Twitter feed is Peruvian Carménère.*
*as far as I know this is only a figment of my imagination.
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Dogberry
pfm Member
The drawbridge at the towers must be permanently
lowered with all the arrivals and trips to the bottle bank,or do you get a special collection?
I was going to wait before bringing up Tannat, I feel it can be a bit more of an acquired taste than Malbec. I think a blind tasting of, for example, a Riccitelli Malbec, a Montus, and a Bouza, would see most separate the Malbec from the Tannat, with perhaps a touch more difficulty to then split the French from the Uruguayan. That’s actually not a bad experiment to set up…
@wacko ’s comments about Zin are also making me wonder about a comparison of, say, a Ridge Geyserville vs a San Marzano Sessentanni Primitivo.
I need a few days off work to focus on some drinking!
@wacko ’s comments about Zin are also making me wonder about a comparison of, say, a Ridge Geyserville vs a San Marzano Sessentanni Primitivo.
I need a few days off work to focus on some drinking!
Decades ago my sister said how much she liked wine from Cahors. Strange what sticks in the memory when other events fall through...
I've also had the Colomé from Waitrose and liked it. Good to see the price is still reasonable @ £17.99. Those 'named' Catena wines may be good value compared to French but they are pricey.
I need a few days off drinking to focus! This Covid thing has been too much of an excuse to booze.
I've also had the Colomé from Waitrose and liked it. Good to see the price is still reasonable @ £17.99. Those 'named' Catena wines may be good value compared to French but they are pricey.
I need a few days off drinking to focus! This Covid thing has been too much of an excuse to booze.
eternumviti
Insufficient privileges to reply.
I've got a bottle of old Clos Triguedina that needs attention, 2002 I think. It actually came from the Chateau last year.
Must be a story behind visiting a vineyard and coming away with but a single bottle ? Especially if you are in the business. Was it forced upon you ? Did you dislike the wine so much you made a token purchase ?
eternumviti
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Not at all, so cynical, we used to buy Triguedina years ago, but this bottle was given to me by a customer who visited the Vineyard last year.
OK all light-hearted. Just remembering my own visit to a vineyard in Italy where I did like the wine but didn't like the price: I bought 1 and gave it to the friend who drove us there.
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