A Couple of Malbecs

[dananne]

It was a drizzly, 32* evening here in Atlanta last night, so we wanted to drink something that might warm us up. The first one was the '02 BenMarco Mendoza Malbec from Dominio del Plata. Dark ruby in the decanter, where it sat for 30 minutes before 1st pour and through evening. Had a kind of berry compote nose that suggested very fruity flavors, but they seemed more muted. I detected heat on the finish, even though it had the ever-present 13.5% on the label, though Anne didn't think it finished hot. I don't know if it's in some sort of "dumb" phase, or if the fruit is falling away, but IMHO this didn't deserve the WE 91 it got. Ran about $19.

The second wine was a QPR wine that we've had from time to time in past vintages: the '03 Don Miguel Gascon Mendoza malbec from Bodegas Escorihuela. Call it a purple wine -- purple in color, grapey nose, grapey flavors held together with some tannic structure, but there was a bit of leather in the finish that made it a bit more complex than first glance. I liked it better than the other, FWIW. Again, 13.5% alc., and it ran about $10.