Wine Tasting #1: French Malbec (QUARANTINE Edition)

Greetings!

Having spent about three weeks at home due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, I have had a lot of time on my hands. Most of my days are spent writing, exercising, applying to jobs, and of course, eating. Might not be a whole lot to it, but when you’re stuck at home, activities are expected to be limited…

Any case, I had received an excellent deal on wines from Groupon several weeks ago– it was 15 bottles for about $38 USD (plus an additional $35 for shipping and handling). Even better was that I could tack on a 10% voucher to lower the price even more! I really love wine, and I thought that I might as well go ahead and purchase this incredible deal to enjoy myself at home. A couple of clicks later, and I was good to go!

The wine arrived about a week-and-a-half later, which wasn’t too bad. In total, I received seven bottles of red wine, seven of white, and one of rosé. They come from all corners of the Earth, including Chile, Spain, France, Australia, and the US. I appreciated the vast assortment of different wines, and you could bet that I was super excited to try them out.

Considering that there are so many of them, what I’ve decided is to make a weekly series on my wine-tasting experience with these kinds of wines. I’m dedicating myself to tasting one bottle of wine per week, so as not to get too carried away with alcoholic consumption. I’m by no means a wine connoisseur, but I have a general idea of what I’ll rate each wine on, thanks to a few years abroad in France (and consuming TONS of wine there, both good and bad). Here’s the first part of the series, and I hope you enjoy!

Georges Vigouroux (France), Malbec 2017

Starting off the series is a French wine, specifically a red and also a Malbec. Normally, I’m used to drinking Malbec from Argentina (which is super good, by the way), so I was a bit curious as to how French Malbec would compare.

I appreciated the label being authentic with the vineyard’s trademark (although descriptions on the back were in English). Upon opening the wine, I was hit with a strange, slightly musky smell that I felt unusual– later did I discover that it was similar to…leather? I guess it being a red wine, the tannin was particularly noticeable in that regard.

Pouring a small sample into a clear glass, I found the wine to be not as deep red as I would have expected a Malbec to be– in fact, it was almost a ruby-red, and one could see through it via the lighting. I would imagine it to be super dark and non-transparent, so that was a surprise.

Taste-wise, I had to take at least three sips to figure out just what I was tasting. If anything, I was confused, because there was absolutely no after-taste to it. Later I discovered that it has a really-low acidity content, and I’m more used to those with higher acidity. It was also very dry, barely any sweetness to it– but that’s expected from a Malbec.

My ratings:

• Smell: 2/5 (didn’t find it very pleasant)
• Color: 3/5 (not as dark in color as expected)
• Dry level: 4.5/5 (right on the mark)
• After-taste: 1.5/5 (taste immediately disappears afterwards)

Overall rating: 3/5

Very smooth for a Malbec, but too light and bland on the taste. Easy to consume with a nice cut of steak or other red meat, but stand-alone it’s nothing to write home about. I would personally drink it without finding it too intense, but it doesn’t “wow” me with originality.

 

…thanks for reading, and more of this series to come soon. Stay safe, everyone!

 

— The Finicky Cynic

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