In a weeks time, I taste a boatload of wine (seriously). A lot of my friends think I’m lucky. Well, they’re right and I wouldn’t give this job up for the world. The only thing that makes my job hard, is my feeling of responsibility to taste the samples given to me as quickly as possible and to put my reviews either in my Moleskine, on my YouTube channel (Stan The Wine Man TV), or right here on Stanthewineman.com. Here for your reading pleasure, are five wines that I have reviewed in my Moleskine (good or bad), this past week
2016 Borie-Manoux Beau-Rivace Bordeaux (France)… $12.
Aromas of earth, candied red cherries and red flowers with a little dried cardboard coming through (not corked). Balanced, solid acidity supports notes of dirt, cranberries and candied cherries with a beam of citrus through the center into the finish. Not for the weak of heart. Very old world, classic inexpensive Bordeaux. (C)
2017 Pascual Toso Malbec (Mendoza, Argentina)… $15.
Tobacco, leather
2018 Elsa Bianchi Malbec (San Rafael…Mendoza, Argentina)… $13.
Aromas of licorice, boysenberries, cinnamon and tobacco, with a little hit of bark and dried leaves. Boysenberry and plum notes expand from the front to the mid-palate than morphs into brooding dark fruit notes mingled with tobacco. There is a nice beam of acidity giving it a nice lift in the mouth. Good complexity for a Malbec for the money. I tried this after it had been opened three days and it only got better. I was impressed. (B+)
2018 The Vigilant Malbec (Central Valley, Chile)… $10.
Notes of cherries and plums on the nose with a hit of bark and hair perm action. Solid acidity on the palate (almost crunchy), supporting lifted plum and boysenberry notes with a little hit of tobacco underneath. Slight hit of candied blackberries join up on the mid-palate into the clean finish. The acidity is well-integrated but on the high side. (C+/B-)
2017 Weingut Heinrich Naked White (Austria)… $21.
Pineapple and oranges on the nose with a pinch of ginger. Funky pineapple and apple notes on the palate front to finish where the apple notes dominate on the back-end with a slight bitter edge. A true funk lovers white. 68% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Blanc, 7% Neuburger, 5% Muskat Ottonel, 3% Gruner Veltliner (C+)
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
