Sep

3

For six bucks, our threshold for what constitutes a recommendable wine is very, very low.  However, with that being the case, the Viu Manent Malbec 2007 exceeded our expectations by quite a bit.  In the nose we found blackberry and hints of oak along with herbal scents — the combination seemed slightly strange at first, but we eventually found ourselves more intrigued than anything else.  In the mouth, we found more of the same with a bit of tea flavor in the finish.  The medium tannin and light acidity matched the body nicely.

The Viu Manent was hardly as fruit-forward or heavy as the Malbecs that we’ve had from Argentina (which is more famous for the varietal), and the alcohol content of 14% reflected the lighter style.

Overall, we felt that our money was well spent.  Heck, we’ve paid twice as much for other wines that weren’t half as good!

Where to get it: We bought our bottle at Plumpjack Wines in Noe Valley.  They ship.  You can also find it using the Snooth search function under “Wine Locator” in the right hand column of this page, or by visiting wine-searcher.com or winezap.com.

Jan

31

While at drinks last night with a couple of friends at a swanky San Francisco bar, I drank a glass of wine that was utterly horrible.  Although it certainly didn’t ruin my evening — I had a great time catching up with my buddies — the purchase of this glass at $9 represented to me a waste of more than half the money I needed to buy another bottle of the fabulous Cab referenced above.  It’s wines like these, a steal at $17, that could make me swear off rolling the dice on 9 dollar mystery-glasses-of-wine for good.

On the nose, it’s marked by dark red fruits like dark cherry, blackberry and currant, and once in the mouth, these flavors are accompanied by charred wood and a hint of chocolate from the oak aging.  Also, the tannins in this wine are firm without being overbearing — you’ll recognize them from the drying sensation you’ll feel around your gums and in the back of your throat — which ought to result in this wine’s pairing well with cheese or other foods rich in fat and proteins.

This is the first bottle of wine we’ve reviewed from Chile, but for the money, it had us thinking “yo quiero mas!”

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