January 20, 2009

Catena Malbec 2006

Here's a wine that demonstrates why you need to taste it yourself and trust your own instincts. Both the Wine Advocate and the Wine Spectator give it 91 points, going on about how well layered it is and its long fleshy finish. I liked it, but thought it tasted a lot like sour cherry juice. Maybe the pros give more consideration as to how a wine will age, although they didn't say that and one review even noted explicitly to "drink now". I am by no means an expert on what a wine will be like a year or two from now based on how it tastes today, but IMHO this malbec will likely be better down the road when it's a little mellower and less acidic.

All in all it was pretty good, but not - in our view - outstanding. It would probably go best with a somewhat spicy meal with strong flavours like jambalaya or even fajitas. Have to make a mental note to come back to this one for a retaste to see if we still differ from the experts, or if we just had an off night.

On a totally unrelated note, the label reminds me of the Mayan pyramids that my daughters and their grandfather built on the beach in Mexico last year. Check it out:

86 points. $16.99

No comments:

Post a Comment