Confessions of a Wino

My (software) day job is pretty intense right now. I can’t afford to spend hours researching wine. Yet, somehow, I still find time to drink it (early evenings only, you understand, and in sensible measures).

So, you can find all about this Franco-Argie mix just by Googling it, or by visiting Jamie Goode’s excellent Wine Anorak.

If you want a handful of words about whether to invest your hard earned readies (at >£50 per bottle, you may well want to ponder for a moment before you ring Barclays for a banker’s draft), read on.

I got mine from The Sunday Times Wine Club who, a couple of years ago had an incredible “20% off anything” offer. This wine was already priced to go, which meant a half case bargain for me.

I can’t find out exactly what I paid because annoyingly, and like most online wine merchants, Direct Wines deletes the records of wines that go out of stock. Once it’s sold eh? Who gives a monkey’s cuss about the buyer who might want to research their purchase from 2009? I think I paid about £35.

Mainly Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, this has the 14% ABV spice and richness of Shah Jahan, but with the yielding mellow fruitiness of Mumtaz Mahal. Don’t waste your time drinking it with a Ruby Murray, though, stick to beef. It is a rare wine that can bridge the intense flavours of ribeye steak (medium), right through to the mild, but sublime and subtle textured fillet (cooked blue). Cheval des Andes is that wine.

And while I’m being all Lordy, don’t drink it without food – well, not a full bottle and not for a few years yet – oh, and beware of the dregs. I nearly gagged. Worth decanting.

Is it worth £50, though? Oh yes….

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 at 11:41 pm and is filed under south america. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.