Tasting- “Crios Malbec”

Name: Crios Malbec

Variety:  Malbec

Region: Mendoza

Country: Argentina

Year: 2010  

Price: $14.95 a bottle... a little more expensive than the Sauvignon Blanc, but still very affordable.  

Vintage Cellar Review:

 “Previous Vintage, 90 points, Robert Parker 5% Bonarda in its blend.  It spent 9 months in 50% new French and American oak.  Notes of balsam wood, smoke, black cherry, and spice box lead to a similarly styled wine that comes off as just a bit too lean.  Again, the flavors are pleasant, but it should be drunk over the next several years while it retains its fruit.”

My Review:

                The first thing I noticed (and liked) about this wine was the gorgeous, rich purplish hue.  It had a very deep tone with a hint of pink to the purple color.  This wine didn’t have a very strong aroma which seemed surprising to me because the woman working the tasting told us about all the rich flavors, so I thought that would be accentuated in the aroma of the wine.  However, I didn’t really notice much from the scent.  As for the taste, it definitely wasn’t as fruity as a lot of the wines I had tasted.  But that’s not to say that it lacked flavor.  It just had a lot more rich, warm, maybe even heavier/thicker flavors.  I could taste a little bit of a chocolate or coffee flavoring and the darker fruits like plums were more evident.  As a girl who doesn’t usually like red wines, I have to say, this one was pretty good.  It seemed like a good wine to drink in the winter, maybe curled up on the couch with some dessert and/or chocolate (something my roommates and I would definitely enjoy doing!).  I didn’t have it with food, so I’m not sure how that would affect it but like I said, I would probably drink it with dessert even though white wines are typically the dessert wines.  I felt like it was a very different wine because it didn’t have the typical sweet flavors that white-wine drinkers would really like but it also wasn’t dry like a lot of red-wine drinkers may prefer.  I think it may be good for people trying to transition into drinking red wines (like myself).