#11- Malbec

"You can't judge a wine by its label." Because if that were the case, this Malbec would have been the best wine ever. Unfortunately, it was far from it. And we do have some differing opinions here on the wine itself.

I was looking forward to the Malbec. I've drank several different bottles of Malbec and have always enjoyed them so I was really expecting the same thing here. I picked up a bottle of LoTengo Malbec, a 2008 wine from Argentina and bottled by Bodega Norton.

Let's start with the cool part of this wine and why I picked it up. It was for no other reason that the coolest label I've seen to date. It's what I believe they call a holographic foil. The label is of two people doing the tango (LoTengo...okay you get it) and when you move the bottle, the dancers legs move so it actually looks like they're doing the tango. Freakin' cool! Yes, this is how I chose this wine. Rather than going with a recommendation or a previous Malbec that I loved, I chose this bottle because I wanted the cool label. Learn people from this- never pick up a bottle because of its label. Or if you do, pick up a second bottle of the grape for comparison.

I should also point out I'm battling a heck of a sinus cold so my taste buds may be a little off. Excuses. In any case, dinner was prepared by Craig (here's the deal- Craig got gift cards to go out and buy chicken but he'd like to let you all know he "cooked" dinner. To be fair, he did make the St. Hubert sauce...). So we had roast chicken, fries and sauce with some slaw. Not exactly a perfect red wine pairing but I'm not complaining. I didn't have to cook.
So,the wine. I was prepared for the acidic taste but didn't bother to let Craig know. He took a gulp of the wine and immediately made his decision that the wine was no good. His first words were "tastes like balsamic vinegar." The first couple of mouthfuls were hard to get down. It is a very acidic wine and you can very much taste the tannins in the wine. The tannins relaxed a bit as the wine breathed (so if you try a Malbec, make sure to either decanter it or let the wine breathe in the bottle for a good hour) and I found the wine to be at least drinkable. I even had a second glass. My mother took a whiff of the wine and couldn't get any closer than that to trying it. Craig didn't even finish his glass but the effort was there. He just couldn't get past the acidic taste. "So much for me liking all the reds" he said. And he would like to point out that this was by far the worst wine we've had to date.

So it's not a rave review for this Malbec but let me assure you that there are some amazing Malbecs out there. My sister and I all last summer enjoyed a bottle (or six) of Malbec wines and loved them all. Apparently this one wasn't on my list. I'll be on the look out for a better bottle of wine and as soon as I find it, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I'll make a valient effort today to finish the bottle, even with my taste buds out of whack. Maybe it'll taste great with a side of cold medicine.

And the rumour is true. Next week the wine is a dessert wine and we're trying the very delicious Muscat. Let's hope we're not in for two bad weeks in a row.