Community Tasting Note

• Lucia Skywalker Likes this wine:

  July 2, 2016 - .
  Notes of a Novice
  
  100% Malbec
  13.9% alcohol
  
  • color is purplish ruby
  • quite thin -
  • beautiful legs
  • mild, mellow, lovely semi-ripe fruit - tree and berries
  • barely detectible barrel/oak
  • alcohol mediu/high
  • beautiful acid
  • lovely tannins
  • beautiful, long finish
  •
  • PERSONAL NOTE
  • would definitely buy this wine again
  • having some home-made, old world grilled sausages with it - superb

  2 people found this helpful 1,215 views

6 Comments

• IPT commented:

  7/3/16, 1:41 PM - Nice comments once again. Only thing; you stated the wine is 100% merlot. Malbec is a varietal (one of the 5 reds originally originating from Bordeaux) so this bottle is 100% malbec. Would make changes to the notes.

• Lucia Skywalker commented:

  7/3/16, 2:47 PM - Thank you IPT - really grateful you pointed out my mistake. Must have been a momentary slip (had been talking a lot about some Merlot blend)

• IPT commented:

  7/4/16, 6:21 AM - Nice. Which blend?

• Lucia Skywalker commented:

  7/4/16, 6:28 AM - The Merlot/Corvina blend is this one - 2013 Casa Vinicola Botter Gran Passione Rosso Veneto IGT. Have you checked out the Forum link I suggested earlier? I write about my tasting adventures and learning experiences on it. Of all the wines tasted thus far, to me this one has been the nicest - in fact I've loaded up on it and serve it to my friends on casual occasions, and they love it too. Have had other wines that I also liked in these past 6 weeks, but this one stands out to me (at this point in my journey).

• IPT commented:

  7/4/16, 6:49 AM - Thanks for the info. I'll look into that bottle. I did check out the forum you mentioned earlier and just looked at it again. I skimmed over it, and glad to hear that you're taking advantage. Myself, I rarely delve too much into forums in general; the structure just has never been very intuitive to me, and a lot of random chatter to have to disseminate through. My approach is that I try to keep contacts with wine makers, distributors, and other professionals in the industries, that way when I search out new info, I've already vetted the source. Easy to start this for anyone is to have a conversation with the folks that sell you the wine; especially at a vintner rather than at some chain grocery store. Those folks love to talk about wine, and eventually will be more than happy to name drop, and that's when you can ask about their contacts.
  
  I will say one last thing. Good on you for trying out merlot and merlot blends. That's a varietal that was as popular 20 years ago as cab sauv is now. Currently, a lot of people poo-poo merlot as too "herbal, barnyard, simplistic" etc. My personal opinion on this is that it has less to do with the varietal and more to do with popular perception that merlot is a commoner's wine, and has nothing new to add to the evolving wine scene. That perception carries on to both wine drinkers and wine makers, so merlot has had a rough time for the last 10 years or so (this perception started back in the late 1900s to early 2000s but really took off after the movie Sideways; Paul Giomati inadvertently killed national merlot sales when his character goes on a tirade about hating merlot). Anyway, you can still find excellent merlot single varietals and blends that put all the skeptics to shame (especially when you serve them merlot in blind tastings and they love it) but now-a-days you'll have to pay for good merlot - $40 a bottle to start usually. So good job finding one on the cheap end!
  
  Wow, I typed a lot. Sorry about that.

• Lucia Skywalker commented:

  7/4/16, 8:00 AM - I started the forum thread about 6 weeks ago, when I decided to learn about reds (never cared for them before). The learning for me has been tremendous - there are some seasoned, very generous with sharing members who have helped me a lot with info, suggestions, and lots of encouragement. Also, I've read numerous books, articles, watched documentaries on the subject since, and find the discussion there illuminating. For you it's probably boring, since you have so much experience with wine, from different perspectives.
  
  When I started that thread, I announced that I was going to do varietals, and the first one happened to be Merlot. ...and the rest is history. Fortunately, I have been blessed with a mind of my own, and being a sheep just is not in my DNA. I like what I like, and dislike what I dislike. When I post TNs, it's what my palate tells me at that time. As you know, I test on day 2, 3, 4, etc. and try to learn from that - and I have. Lots! So yeah... I can write a lot too :)

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