Of editorial housekeeping concern: It looks like we're going to spend the remainder of the month in various parts of the United States before spending the next month abroad with a few bottles of French (ah! the French!) before wrapping up the year in Argentina with some heavy hitters we were fortunate enough to try. So we head to Paso Robles for another fine edition of: is this Malbec any good or overpriced?
Nose: Comes in very fruity with notes of red licorice vines, strawberry and quite a bit of black cherry. The strawberry expands with each sniff and soon resembles a lovely homemade mixed berry compote. It's quite soft.
Palate: The black cherry from the nose takes the lead with everything else on the nose following, along with some chocolate malt candy. Very approachable with nice texture and some heavy tannins to keep things interesting. On the next few sips a note of espresso starts to creep in.
Finish: Long, and that espresso bean note takes full charge and keeps things interesting. As the espresso note expands there's a bit of a reprisal of the chocolate malt, but it's an unexpected and quite welcome turn of events.
So is it worth it? If you have the cash, you can find it and you're looking for something out of the ordinary? Absolutely. The espresso/chocolate finish was one of the most remarkable of this year, and I was sad to see the bottle go.
$60
Amor Fati