Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Alta Vista Premium Malbec (2005)

This was another interesting Malbec, although I'm not sure if I'd ever purchase this one for myself. Most Malbecs are better consumed after a good 30 minutes or so of breathing. This one not so much.

The nose, prior to aeration was simple with a bit of cedar. The body was wonderfully lush with dark fruits and just a hint of vanilla-like cedar. The finish was long, mild, with a somewhat cooling sensation.

After aeration the nose yielded the dark fruits with the cedar. The body unfortunately mellowed out to a point of being uninteresting. The finish also became simply unimpressive.

No website.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What did you eat with it when the body vanished? I had this exact same wine a few days ago: I am now looking for it everywhere. It is not simple at all.
Do you think there could have been a change of food or atmosphere during your meal while you were tasting this wine?
Also, since you seem to know about Malbec red wines, could you suggest me a few that you really liked? Thanks a lot for all the information you can give me.
"Beuvez toujours, ne mourrez jamais." RABELAIS

JMJanssen said...

hanks for the comment. I would not claim to know a lot about Malbecs, but have had a few. Unfortunately, I can't list them off, that was half the reason why this blog was started, so we could keep track of what we had consumed.

As far as food, atmosphere, etc., it wasn't being consumed with anything other than typical wine-tasting fare (crackers, cheese, etc.). The only change I could account for is possible intoxication, but historically that has not affected my palette adversely.

Anonymous said...

I am enjoying this conversation...
I have been looking for a place where I can get this wine for about a week now. I have found a place in the US and finally today I know what company I can order that wine from in France.
I had that Malbec last week at the restaurant with three different courses (from starter to cheese) and it adapted itself so well with all of them (the chef actually suggested this wine considering the food I had just ordered). I was particularly amazed by the main dish: a nice white fish (I would need to look up the English word) tooped with slightly fried foi gras. It is the first time I have red wine with a white fish. Great surprise.
The only thing I could reproach this wine with is the potency of the taste of alcohol fater a couple of glasses. However I did enjoy the whole bottle.
Hope we can share some of our tastes about wine soon.
A bottle a day keeps the doctor away. Jerome K. Jerome