Malbec World Day is on the 17th of April and I've got five wines from Argentina to review leading up to the big day. I'll doing full reviews on Colomé wines with their 2018 Estate Torrontés, their 2016 Estate Malbec (which I'm reviewing right now), and their 2017 Auténtico Malbec. And I'll also be doing some quickie reviews of Amalaya wines, starting their 2018 Blanco and ending with their 2017 Malbec on Malbec World Day itself. Both Colomé and Amalaya are owned by Hess Family Wine Estates.
Bodega Colomé is one of the oldest working wineries in Argentina, and home to the highest vineyards in the word (expect for recent plantings in Tibet). Based in the Calchaqui Valley, high in the Salta region of northwestern Argentina, Colomé was established in 1831, with vineyards planted at high elevations on original rootstock imported from Bordeaux. Vines from these historic plantings are still bearing fruit today.
Four estate vineyards are blended to make the 2016 Estate Malbec, but it is 100% Malbec. Colomé vineyard (65%) gives the wine its complexity and weight, the El Arena vineyard (25%) gives elegance and freshness, while La Brava vineyard (5%) brings intense ripe fruit, and finally the Altura Maxima vineyard (5%) brings floral and mineral notes with find grain tannins. It spent 15 months in French oak barrels and 6 months in the bottle before release.
I'm writing this review to one of my favorite albums ever, Blind Melon's Soup, which includes my favorite song of all time, Mouthful of Cavities. Shannon wrote that song about his friend who was dying of cancer and it's one the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Take a few minutes to listen. Listen to that guitar riff. It's brilliant. Listen to his voice. You can feel what he is feeling through the music. It gives me goose bumps every single time I listen to it or play it on my guitar.
And then there's Walk, which has these lyrics that I think we can all relate to, even though our struggles are all different: "My feet are so cold. I can't believe that I have to bang my head against this wall again. But the blows they have just a little more space in between them. Gonna take a breath and try, and try again."
Too many people think of the Bumble Bee girl when they think of Blind Melon, and they are so much more. Listen to the Mouthful of Cavities and Walk and the whole Soup album in the music selection playlist of my YouTube channel.
And then there's Walk, which has these lyrics that I think we can all relate to, even though our struggles are all different: "My feet are so cold. I can't believe that I have to bang my head against this wall again. But the blows they have just a little more space in between them. Gonna take a breath and try, and try again."
Too many people think of the Bumble Bee girl when they think of Blind Melon, and they are so much more. Listen to the Mouthful of Cavities and Walk and the whole Soup album in the music selection playlist of my YouTube channel.
The wine is legit purple in color. On the nose there's a graphite minerality with aromas of blackberries, plum, chocolate, and really really loud vanilla. As it opens up the dark fruits really start to take over, and a little black licorice even joins in. On the palate it's surprisingly boozy and a fuller bodied Malbec with a lot of structure and tightly grained tannin. The dark fruits and chocolate and vanilla from the nose persist on the palate, and the graphite minerality really kicks it up a notch. Then it finishes boozy with flavors of plum and vanilla.
Man, this is an intense. And awesome. Drink now if you want a Malbec that will slap you in the face or give it a few years to mellow out for some elegance.
QUALITY VS PRICE RATING
Price: $25
Rating: 4/5 = Recommended (what does that mean?)
The bottle used was provided free of charge for the purpose of this unpaid review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.
The bottle used was provided free of charge for the purpose of this unpaid review. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.
Thanks for this. Tried this on a trip to Chile, and fell in love. Where did you source this?
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