Norton Reserva Malbec 2004

Lujan de Cayo
Mendoza
Argentina

The little wooden guy shrugs- not great, not bad, and a pretty good price. What's not to like?

From the bottle notes:

Bodega Norton was founded in 1895 at the highest point of the Mendoza River Valley. The estate winery is located in the foothills of the Andes, at altitudes ranging begtwen 850 and 1100 meters above sea level.

"Reserva" is made from carefully selected grapes from vineyards more than 30 years old. The wine is aged 12 months in rench oak barels and then additionally in botles before release.

Our people's passion, together with the harmonious coexistence of fruit and wood over time, have made this a great wine, characterized by elegance and complexity.

The nose of this wine is very powerful, baking bread, black plums and meat, then espresso and cocoa.

Chocolate covered cherries open the palate, folowed by leather and sour cherries. Mouth feel is a little thin, tannins are dusty, and it just feels a bit out of balance. Fruit is not overpowering. Tanins are not overpowering. Alcohol is not overpowering. Nothing stands out as too much or too little, so I have a hard time saying exactly what does not work, but it feels like a jigsaw puzzle that makes a nice picture, but none of the pieces quite fit together. On the other hand, this is an $8 bottle of wine, and at that price point getting a nice picture is a frickin' miracle.

SECOND NIGHT

Vanilla, blackberries and cocoa open the nose, which is far lighter than the night before. The wine is warmer than the night before, because I did not store it in the cellar overnight. That may also explain why it was so much hotter, the alcohol making its presence far more obtrusive.

Vanilla and blueberry pie with pepper open the palate. There is a midpalate to this $9 wine, which adds cocoa and leather. Tannins are a bit dusty. The finish is suprisingly long but turns sour at the very end.

This is not a great wine, but it is a great bargain. It is better balanced than the first night. It is also a very good example of a reasoanbly priced malbec. If you have tried it, or you want to introduce a friend to the grape, this is a good way to go.

Crios de Susana Balbo Rose of Malbec 2007

Mendoza, Argentina
13.8% alcohol

As the little wooden guy is pointing out, this came with a screw-top. He didn't mind. he really liked this wine.

From the bottlenotes:

Wines under my Crios (offspring) label display ripe fruit flavors, excellent balance, and are meant to be enjoyed in their vibrant youth. This rose is produced using the traditional "saignee" method, a blending of the lightly - colored juice from the skins of my fermenting old-vine Malbec grapes at just the right time to generate a brilliant red color. Old-vine Malbec grapes create a richer, spicier wine than most other roses from around the world, which gives the wine memorable flexibility to pair with a wide range of foods. And like my own crios, this Rose of Malbec is extremely lovable and fun to be around.

The color was bright translucent pink, the color of cranapple juice.

The nose was sweet, strawberry, candied cherries and some spice, maybe cloves and ginger. It was full-bodied, a true child of the juice and the skins, rather than just the juice, with the skins in the role of a distant uncle. The palate opened with sweet fruit, strawberry and cherries, but a firm midpalate of smoke, cloves and ginger said this was a serious wine. Then it got playful again, ending in candied fruit and ginger, like a fresh holiday fruit cake.

SECOND NIGHT

Close your eyes and take a sniff- is that a glass of wine or am I in a room full of strawberries? Nope, not just strawberries, there are some Ruby Red grapefruit here, too, and cinnamon.

Sip it. Strawberries first, just like the nose, a touch of cocoa powder that reminds you it comes from malbec grapes, then the same Ruby Red grapefruit and cinammon from the nose. Some of the cherries from night one join for the finish.

This is a good rose. It is bright, acidic, fresh, and even just slightly tannic. This is a rose that reminds you it really does come from a red grape, not just a tinted white.

Melipal Malbec 2003

$21.98 14% alcohol 100% Malbec Mendoza, Argentina

According to the label, this wine comes from an 80 year old vineyar, and 18,631 bottles (1550+ cases) were made. That is actually a pretty small run compared to a lot of the Malbecs.

Just looking at the glass, this is inky dark, almost black, with a very thin purple edge. It is also thick - a quick swirl around the glass coats the sides and sticks.

Up front, just out of the bottle, the nose is overpowering. There is a lot of alcohol, more than I expected from 14% alcohol. A few minutes later the fruit blasts its way out of th glass. There is blueberry, but not just blueberry, BLUEBERRY!!! More blueberry pie filling than fresh fruit or even jelly or jam. Next is a very interesting smell, bananas and brown sugar, maybe even plantains in brown sugar. It is a sugar/fruit sweet baked odor, and not a bad one. There is a tiny hint, way in the back, of bell pepper, just enough to tell you this is really from South America, but not obtrusive.

There is a lot of black fruit on the palate, starting with tart blackberries then moving to the blueberry pie filling from the nose. This is a real mouthful, like a fruit tart, a vanilla pastry filled with blueberry pie filling and fresh blackberries, sprinkled with black pepper. Add a side of beef and some leather and there you have it. The leather comes in toward the end, a bit of tannins but not enough to believe this wine is going to last a whole lot longer. It will be interesing to see how it holds up overnight.

Second night. This was only open an hour or two then sealed under a Vacuu-Vin seal. Tonight it opened with a "suuuuck-POP!," so it did not get air overnight.

The nose is still filled with black fruit, plus cloves and some green olive. Plus, for the first time, some florals- violets, I think.

Old wine. This tastes like old wine. It is not oxidized and tasting of Port, it just tastes old - like very overripe/bruised plums. There are other fruits still there, blueberry and blackberry, plus cloves, but one night overnight and this seems over the hill.

I am really not surprised. For some reason the South American wines, even the pretty good ones (I haven't bought any of the very good ones, just because I can't bring myself to spend good Bordeaux money on "very good" anything from South America), just don't seem to last a long time. This is not a bad wine, in fact it's pretty good. But if my idea that the second night tells you something about the life of a wine, well, drink up. Don't let this one sit in the cellar much longer.