jamie goode's wine blog: Great value from Argentina - can we forgive some spoofiness?

Monday, February 02, 2009

Great value from Argentina - can we forgive some spoofiness?

Tonight's wine is from Argentina, and it's delicious. It actually won the trophy for best varietal wine under £10 at this year's Decanter World Wine Awards. It's really impressive. But, if I'm honest, it tastes a bit spoofy. Like it was made to win awards. The colour is a little too dark, the fruit a little too sweet, the tannins a little too smooth. In fact, it almost tastes like it has been tweaked a little with grape juice concentrate, just to add a little sweetness and colour. I'm just trying to find out how the winemaker could have got the colour this dense and the fruit so deliciously sweet. I'll try to find out from the agent.

Can spoofiness be forgiven? This is the sort of wine that will be adored by people new to wine, and I suppose there's nothing wrong with that. It is, after all, very tasty in a hedonic sort of way, and I'm enjoying it. It's just that for an intelligent audience like mine, I wanted to point out my concerns: delicious, really impressive, but perhaps spoofy.
Vinalba Malbec Reserva 2006 Mendoza, Argentina
Deep coloured. Amazingly sweetly fruited, alluring nose with very ripe blackberries and a hint of blackcurrant jam. The palate is lush and sweet with ripe, dense, pure fruit and some savoury, spicy notes. Lots of impact here: a dense, full, sweet red wine with lovely purity of fruit and real flavour impact. It's unashamedly new world in style and will be sure to win lots of fans. 90/100 (£9.99 Majestic)

Labels: , ,

9 Comments:

At 10:53 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

No, unforgiveable. To the guilliotine... next please!

 
At 12:52 PM, Anonymous Doug said...

I have tasted this wine and elegant (see label) is not the word I would have chosen.

It is like drinking chocolate liqueur flavoured oak.

Not my cup of... erm... wine.

 
At 2:04 PM, Blogger Claude Vaillancourt said...

"This is the sort of wine that will be adored by people new to wine."

Were the tasters for the Decanter Awards new to wine? Unlikely. So why they choose it as the winner?

 
At 5:16 PM, Blogger Barry said...

A crowd-pleaser...a wine that wins tastings....Jamie..could you drink a whole bottle?..and how much alcohol?..
Spoofy..more like Spooky..lol
These wines scare me...but after 30 years drinking the stuff..I am hardly new....

 
At 10:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

amazing value-added comment from revious sarcastic anonymous muppet.

 
At 12:35 PM, Anonymous Chris Welsh said...

Jamie - is it too sweet to have with food? I find spoofy wines tend to suit people who drink red wine on its own, rather than with food.

There's clearly a place for wines like this as people buy them and, as you mention, the appeal for certain circumstances is easy to see.

 
At 7:59 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

To the second anonymous poster, I hate to disappoint you, but I didn't post that first comment.

What is it with you, and all this "value-added" crap? Do you work in marketing?

You clearly don't believe in free speech.

 
At 5:28 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

this wine is just to die for, Majestic have sold out, does anyone know where I can get a case?

 
At 11:10 AM, Blogger Gazza said...

Roberson Wines £6.95/bottle, just bought 2xcases, gonna save it !
Alright, might try a couple of bottles :-)

 

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home