Very pleasantly surprised

[dananne]

A new wine/liquor store opened up in Atlanta, so I paid a visit last weekend. Very unusual selection which included a Horton Malbec. Since I don't ever see Virginia wines here, I grabbed the bottle and added it to the cart. When I got home and began logging the wines into the cellar, I was stunned by the vintage date on the bottle. 1995. Kicking myself for not even noticing it when I bought it (probably because I was so surprised by seeing the wine, I didn't even bother to read the label), I decided that I needed to crack it sooner rather than later.

It was alive! Early nose of blackberry, violet, and vanilla faded after an hour, as I suspected it would from nearly a decade old Virginia wine. Good, deep purple/red color. Nice mellow flavors that followed the nose and a surprisingly long finish. We were very pleased. Not too shabby for a usually unheralded region and an oft-blended varietal. Not going to match up with some of the elite Argentine Malbecs, but very favorably matched up with those found at the price point of $14, and offering far more interest and complexity. Much better than expected. If I'm ever in the woods, I'll probably pay them a visit.

Nice job, Horton!