Dark purple in the glass, very dense.  The nose sports some really delicious aromas of blueberry, spice box and some oak.  I also get a whiff of twizzlers right at the end.

On the palate the blueberry theme continues, laced with a ton of tannins that leave the gums all dry.  The wine has some juicy acidity, which is needed considering the dryness I am encountering.  The blue fruits continue onto the finish, which is quite long.  A certain floral hint hits the mid palate that melds well with the berry component.  I am digging this wine and reckon it would really do well with Ribeye and roasted sweet potato rounds.  It begs for a fatty cut to offset the tannins, which are very tightly wound and help build the backbone of this wine.  I would drink till 2024.  90 points from me, but I just looked up my order and noticed it got 95 from Decanter, that’s a big score.  I paid $20, but it was on sale from $40.  3 stars for retail pricing but a 4 star effort for the sale price!  Salut….

I can’t even tell you how many bottles of this wine I have drunk in my day.  I was introduced to it at an Argie steak house in Anchorage, Alaska of all places.  We used to go there in small groups and empty their supply every time.  I saw this bottle when I was in Boston with the family on a skating trip.  I couldn’t resist.

In the glass, a paler version of purple was on display.  On the nose- black berry and nutmeg come to mind.  The initial palate consists of really delicious dark fruits, some plum ganache and some very tart tannins.  The wine shows off a dryness that takes over the mid palate and finish but still allows flavors of blue and black currants to peek through.  There are not many tertiary flavors but that is okay, this is a primal wine that begs for steak.  It offers one stop shopping if you are in the market for a reasonably priced wine that bangs it with grilled meat, does well alone and will make charcuterie sing. This is one for you to look for.  At $13 this is a good deal and gets 90 points from me making it a 5 star wine.  Drink till 2020 and buy in bulk.  Salut….

I had a few colleagues in town for a meeting and took them to a local restaurant for dinner.  This was the only Malbec available so we took a punt and tried it.  A nose of cherry, oak and black berries.  The initial tastes of dark fruits get melded into a silky vanilla blueberry compote.  The mid palate passes rather quickly with a hint of black berries and licorice.  The finish is nice with an easy going tannin profile and very faint hints of acidity.  This is a basic wine that will suffice in a pinch but I was astounded to read later on that it is only a $9 bottle that we got hosed on ($50+), but more importantly- it only got an 80 point rating from WE.  That’s rather harsh, but shouldn’t a restaurant look for any ratings before buying blindly?  I am not that down on it and will go with 86 points making it a 2 star wine.  Salut….