Friday, October 30, 2015

Friday Night Malbecs for Jose

We have been acquiring Malbecs from the wineries we've visited in order to share them with our good friend Jose. Malbecs seem to be more popular these days. We were told in Napa that many wineries were tearing out there Syrahs to put in Malbec. Who knows if it's true.

Jose was free on Friday so I made the date and filled in the table. John decided to say yes, which is a rarity - my guess is the allure of conversations with Jose convinced him. Paul and Jennifer surprised us by being available at a last minutes notice.

Since we were only six, I decided to give each wine a glass. It was a mismatch of glasses for sure, but made comparisons in the tasting easy.

Everything is Ready

The Aftermath

We tasted, ate, and enjoyed each other's company.

Results



Top to Bottom from Left to Right

E - 2011 Kuleto Estate, Napa Valley came in first place with an average of 3.08. It cost $55. We picked this up at the winery on our Wine Train inspired trip to Napa. Sue has loved India Ink, now renamed El Coyote, from Kuleto since she discovered it at Taste of the Town years ago with Bob and Carolynn in San Francisco. We took the opportunity to visit this beautiful place before going on the Wine Train.

View from Kuleto


B - 2012 Picchetti, Shoemaker Vineyards, Paso Robles came in second place with an average of 3.00. It cost $30. We picked this up at Picchetti, where we are club members.

The 2010 of this won the last Malbec tasting we had a couple of years back: I'm Dreaming of a Malbec Christmas.

D - 2009 Thomas Fogarty, Gist Ranch, Santa Cruz Mountains came in third place with an average of 2.75. It cost $52. We purchased this from Fogarty when we were members as part of a club shipment.

A - 2011 Capataz, Mendoza, Argentina came in fourth place with an average of 2.62. It cost $35. We picked this up in Napa at Dariush.

C - 2011 Chalk Hill, Sonoma County came in fifth place with an average of 2.58. It cost $45. We picked this up at the winery. The Chalk Hill AVA is a region of the AVA of Russian River AVA. I wanted to give it a try the last time we went to Sonoma.

F - 2013 Chilensis Reserve, Chile came in last place with an average of 2.45. It cost $8. John brought. He picked it up at Bevmo where they recommended a Chilean and Argentinian Malbec.