Coleccion Privada 2007 Malbec from Navarro Correas

I had the distinct pleasure of receiving a box of samples from Sao Anash at Muse Management (hey there government, enough disclosure for you?). We received five bottles from Bodega Navarro Correas, a Mendoza winery enjoying the services of winemaker Gaspar Roby. My notes follow, in the format that I'm practicing for my ISG certification...

Appearance: This wine is certainly clear (filtered/fined, I assume), with a dark ruby core. It fades to magenta at the rims, with an overall high intensity of color. This is the kind of color I look for in my lip glosses... and Malbecs.

Nose: First off, a clean wine. Medium to high intensity on the nose: not particularly intrusive, but rather complex. We smell black cherry and pie filling, baking spices, and an earthy quality. Rather than an 'unripe' bell pepper smell, we get a roasted bell pepper smell. Milk chocolate and coffee (a mocha perhaps) is on the finish. Delicious.

Palate: This is a medium intensity palate that is bursting with dark stone fruit: black cherries, pie filling, and any other dark fruit you bake into a pie. This fruit is generous but not fresh; more of a 'stewed' or 'pie' character. Those roasted bell pepper and coffee notes take center stage.

Conclusion: This seemed to be a young wine to us and, yes, it's actually a 2007. It's moderate tannin and acid structure would make it a bottle to age for a couple of years. The finish is rather long, with the primary fruit flavors really shining for a long time. We love this wine and said we'd pay 18$-22$ for it. Lo and behold, it's a 11$ of wine.

What do we think? This is a drink me, for seriously high QPR! Thanks to some seriously icky export laws in Argentina, we don't get the best Malbecs, but this is an excellent example of the grape for an everyday price. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. Buy it. Salud!

(thank you www.drvino.com for the lovely map)

Attack of the Sweet Tooth: 2005 Chateau St. Jean Belle Terre Vineyard Late Harvest Riesling

Whoo! That title is a mouthful. Also, this wine is a mouthful. But for a girl who likes her pinot 'garbagey' and her white wines 'gravelly', what am I doing drinking a dessert wine?

Sometimes, after a meal, I need a drink. But the usual cocktail won't do. That's when I turn to my collection of dessert wines because, let's face it, they can be really fun. This one is no exception.

The first thing I am struck by as I pour this wine is its viscosity, and its color. It looks like you're pouring warm honey... golden, viscous, and somehow hinting at sunny afternoons full of flowers. On the nose there is honey and meyer lemon, giving way to more floral tones. And a sip? Beautiful mouth feel and a taste like what you'd expect if someone made a liquor from honeysuckle.

As we worked our way through the bottle for a few days, Nick and I just couldn't put our finger on it. What does this remind us of? Where have we tasted it? Ah ha! At Crushpad a few weeks back we tasted cool, crisp, unfermented Chardonnay juice. Imagine the best (non-alcoholic) white grape juice you've ever imagined, multiply by 100, and stir in some honey. Voila! You are there!

The Verdict: Oh my goodness, this is a Drink Me. I love Chateau St. Jean and everything they do, and this is no exception. Grab some while you can, as it is obviously not an every vintage sort of thing... but it looks like you can grab the '06 here. Cheers!