COTES DU RHONE PERRIN RESERVE 2005

Wow. This wine completely blew me away. What terrific balance and fragile complexity. It has an earthy aroma with hints of cloves and cranberries. Flavours of cocoa and plum with a slight spiciness and excellent tannins. Thanks to Mary Alice for a wonderful bottle.

Perrin Reserve consists of Cinseault, Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre grapes. They are grown in the vinyards of Grand Prébois owned by the Perrin family in Orange, France.

Score:

BODEGA ACHAVAL FERRER MALBEC 2005

To me, Malbec is synonymous with Argentinian wine, as they produce lots of this delicious varietal. Julia and I received a bottle of Achaval Ferrer from Jan for Christmas (thank you Jan!).

The first thing that came to mind when I tasted it was "round." It has a very round mouth feel; it is well balanced with nice tannins and a bit of tartness. Julia noticed hints of blackberry, and a flavour that she first thought was plastic, but after reading another review, was more accurately described as tarry. But in a good way.





Score: