Ruta 22 - Malbec

Price: $13
Region: Chile
Year: 2008

I've been in a bit of a wine review slump lately, but hopefully things are beginning to turn around. It really hasn't been for any reason in particular, and especially not for a lack of material. Last weekend was a bit of change of pace. If you've read any of my previous posts, you'll know Friday evenings are not the "night out on the town" kind of nights for me. A pizza and a new bottle of wine usually does just fine by me. This particular weekend however, my wife's parents bought four tickets to a local wine tasting, and asked us to come along. So, after a nice dinner at a local Italian restaurant, it was off to the wine tasting. This tasting was not at a wine store, so there was not the usual 1.5 oz limit to the servings. This was pretty much a full glass of wine with each pass.

There were two tables est up on each side of the room. One side sat the white wines, and the other the reds. I'm sure you can guess which side of the room I ended up on most of the night. The theme of the night, if you can call it that, was Chilean wines. While all three of the reds I tasted had some merit, this particular Malbec was the that stuck most in my memory. The first red I tasted as a pretty good Pinot Noir. Not what I would call typical, but tasty for sure. The Malbec however, was right up my alley. It had a really nice dark purple color. When I got my first glass, I walked a bit out of the way, so I could pay a little closer attention. The smell was fruit forward for sure, with a nice intense aroma. So starting off with a nice deep color, and strong fruity smell, the wine definitely had promise. At this point, I was really looking forward to giving it a taste. As I took a sip, I knew this wine had a lot of merit. The fruit forward smell that I observed, was definitely not an illusion. The taste of fruit was very prominent, especially blackberry. It was a very nice bold wine, that was really quite smooth. The tannins were firm, but definitely not overdone. I really was not sure how much this wine cost, but when I found it online for around $13 on average, I was convinced this was a good buy. I will definitely look for a bottle to try at home with my favorite grilled meat.

Rating: 3.5 corks (A nice Malbec at a good price)