Mendoza, Argentina
100 % Malbec (Altamira)
14.5 % Alcohol
Tasted 2016-08-20 & 2016-08-22
Bright, medium ruby red. Dried red fruit rotates with intensive blackberry aromas. Also a touch of half-sweet drops is noticeable. The taste is amazingly spicy. I didn't expect that from the nose. Certain notes of tea are given which lead to a nice and spicy cassis finish. Really good.
"biolento". What does this mean? It is a funny play of words. The wine honors the small and violent creatures that attack the vineyard and give the winemaker a hard time (and life). With this in mind it makes absolutely sense that the grapes came from non-tilled vineyard where no fertilisers or pesticides are used. I should mention that this vineyard is 95 years old!
Two days later. Now I recognize one of the secrets of the Maal wines. All these wines need time after opening. Really! When we uncorked the wine on Saturday evening the bottle was open for nearly four hours before I closed the bottle again using the preservation system. Now the wine is perfectly balanced. The sweet drops touch is gone and the spiciness together with the blackberries offers a wonderful aroma carpet. Great job, Alfredo and Matias. Drink this beauty over the next five years: Pairing? During my US trips I found a recipe for Chicken Wings with Molasses Barbecue Sauce. An unbelievable pairing.
Monday, August 22. 2016
Maal III: 2015 Maal Wines biolento (91/100)
Maal II: 2015 Maal Wines biutiful (88/100)
Mendoza, Argentina
100 % Malbec (Chacras de Coria)
14.5 % Alcohol
Tasted 2016-08-20 & 2016-08-21
Medium ruby red. Notes of cherries, cranberries and Christmas spices let arise some warm, winterly feelings. The first sip offers creaminess paired with a spicy touch. At the end of the medium long finish a certain tart austereness is recognizable. Perhaps a little bit one-dimensional compared to the rebelión.
The "biutiful" is fermented in old cement vessels without adding any yeast. The idea behind this wine is the philosophy of an inner beauty. Without using any makeup. Means in this case pure Malbec without doing anything to distract from the pureness. So you have to look inside to find the beauty.
To be honest directly after opening it was difficult to recognize this concept. The wine was a little bit too simple to see the idea of the winemakers. However the next day the picture was better framed. The spicyness was now more present which makes the wine in total more interesting. Perhaps this was intended? So decanting is definitely a very good idea. At least for the moment.
Indeed in contradiction to the usual Malbec food pairing recommendations I would pair the biutiful with a mildly prepared meat dish. Perhaps duck? Drink it in the next three years.
100 % Malbec (Chacras de Coria)
14.5 % Alcohol
Tasted 2016-08-20 & 2016-08-21
Medium ruby red. Notes of cherries, cranberries and Christmas spices let arise some warm, winterly feelings. The first sip offers creaminess paired with a spicy touch. At the end of the medium long finish a certain tart austereness is recognizable. Perhaps a little bit one-dimensional compared to the rebelión.
The "biutiful" is fermented in old cement vessels without adding any yeast. The idea behind this wine is the philosophy of an inner beauty. Without using any makeup. Means in this case pure Malbec without doing anything to distract from the pureness. So you have to look inside to find the beauty.
To be honest directly after opening it was difficult to recognize this concept. The wine was a little bit too simple to see the idea of the winemakers. However the next day the picture was better framed. The spicyness was now more present which makes the wine in total more interesting. Perhaps this was intended? So decanting is definitely a very good idea. At least for the moment.
Indeed in contradiction to the usual Malbec food pairing recommendations I would pair the biutiful with a mildly prepared meat dish. Perhaps duck? Drink it in the next three years.
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