Achaval Ferrer 2006 Mendoza Malbec

Achaval Ferrer was founded in 1998 and is located in the province of Mendoza, Argentina, at the foot of the Andes mountain range. The area's desert-like conditions are perfect for growing Malbec, giving low yields, poor and well drained soils, and warm days with cold nights, which concentrates and gives depth to the final wine.
Roberto Cipresso is the winemaker and he also owns a winery in Montalcino, Tuscany.

Achaval Ferrer 2006 Mendoza Malbec has a beautiful, dense, dark purple color.

Heavy dark cherry, blackberry, blueberry, lingonberry, and vanilla greats you on the nose.
Tasting the wine it shows big, ripe, dark fruit with blackberry, sour cherry, plum, and touch of smoke at the finish.
This wine is big, pleasant, and a great wine for a cold night in the fall. Don't expect great things but certainly good. Serve it with a hearty stew and light the fire place...

I found this wine at Costco for $16.99 and thought I would give it a try. I am glad I did. I would describe this wine as something in between a Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. It has the big fruit of a Zin, but the finesse of a Cab.
Find it at your local Costco or at Wine-Searcher.com from $16.99.


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Tapiz 2006 Mendoza Argentina Chardonnay

Thought I would try this Chardonnay from Mendoza when I found it one the 5 cent sale at BevMo (buy on bottle for full price and get the second for 5 cents).
This wine has a medium light, clear, straw color in the glass. On the nose, creamy, ripe, green apple with lemony citrus and a hint of buttery oak. On the palate the apple is more of the tart character with citrus and round, creamy mouth feel and medium acidity.
This wine was fermented in new French oak for 8 months and you can certainly detect it both in the nose and on the palate. It is however still a relatively refreshing chardonnay with not to heavy creaminess.
I got his at BevMo for $ 14.99, with bottle number two for only 5 cents, so that means that I only paid $7 per bottle. This wine is by no means going to "break any scoring records" but it is a solid, nice chardonnay for a good price. This is a wine that will most likely please the crowd considering the realtively low price.

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Melipal Mendoza Malbec 2004

Thirsty for new experiences I picked up a bottle of the 2004 Melipal Mendoza Malbec from Argentina the other day.
This wine has a dark, blueberry-red color in the glass that promises me a ripe fruit bomb. Showing buttery oak, big dark fruit and a hint of coffee on the nose, this is a very promising wine. Tons of black currant and black cherry on the palate with persistent tannins gives this wine a long, round finish. It was not quite as big from sweet fruit on the palate as I expected and this is a good thing. The very ripe, but a hint tarter, currant and cherry works perfect.
This is a very enjoyable wine! Nothing to complicated, big, bold and fruity and really easy to drink, especially with a piece of Marabou Dark Chocolate.
Rated 88 by Wine Enthusiast and 89 by Wine Spectator. Find it at http://www.wine-seacher.com/ from $11.99. A great price for a real crowd-pleaser.

Don Miguel Gascon

Don Miguel Escorihuela arrived in Argentina 1880 after a long trip from Spain. Four years later he had acquired 42 acres of land that would mark the beginning of the Bodegas Escorihuela Gascon. The winery has been known throughout the years for it's consistently outstanding wines and is today operated by the Catena family.
Dark red with a hint of purple in the glass the 2004 Don Miguel Gascon Mendoza Malbec give aromas of dark berries, red cherries and touch of smoke. Tart cherry, restrained dark berries and a hint of tobacco end in a finish accentuating the mid firm tannins. I think this is a good wine at a really good value (see price below). Try it for yourself and let me know what you think...
Rated 87 by Wine Enthusiast and 88 by Wine Spectator (if this is of interest to you).
Find it at BevMo for $10.99 or order it online at http://www.wine-searcher.com/ from only $8.99.

Wine Spectator Great Wine Values, Part II

Tonight I have tasted and reviewed two more wines from the list of Wine Spectator's Great Wine Values in October's issue. See Part I with the first two wines reviewed at 11/15/06.
I started of with the 2005 Chateau Ste. Michelle-Dr. Loosen Riesling Colombia Valley, Eroica. It is the seventh vintage of this wine and they are getting better and better with narrowing it down and finding their style. It received 90 points from Wine Spectator and 92 from Wine Enthusiast. Sweet, white floral on the nose lead you to believe that it might be to sweet, but once in your mouth it is lively and crisp with ripe apple notes and transforms quickly to a sweeter peachy tone with a long finish. Very tasty! $19.99 at BevMo.
I had planned to taste an Australian Shiraz after this but upon opening the bottle I discovered that it had bled through the cork. I am not afraid to return these bottles as it might have affected the wine, and so I will.
Instead I moved on to the 2004 Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Mendoza from Argentina. Nicola Catena, an Italian immigrant, planted the first vines in 1902. The third generation is now running the winery, striving to put Argentina on the map as one of the premium wine producing countries. And they are on their way. The nose reveals red cherry and berries, and black berries and dark fruit on the palate with a long finish. Wine Spectator rewarded this beauty with 90 points and I agree. $19.99 at BevMo.

Tomorrow: the Australian Shiraz...