malbec.

x-fact ~ malbec is a thin skinned black grape that needs a lot of sun and heat.

tierra del sol malbec 2006
paid $6.99
reg. $9.99

i haven't ever had this particular wine, though i have enjoyed many wines from argentina. i bought a bottle this afternoon after an end cap display caught my attention. mainly the $6.99 in big bold black letters is what caught my eye, but i consider this a character plus on my part.

there were three wines from the tierra del sol label. immediately i dismissed the white in the middle. don't get me wrong, i like white wines just fine. give me a sunny day with nowhere to go and no one to go there with and i enjoy a chilled white wine as much as the next gal.

but, white is no red. the difference between white wine and red is the difference between the boy with the 1985 honda spree scooter and the good department store sweater and the boy with the 1991 harley davidson heritage softail classic and the beat up leather jacket.

when the bottle will likely just last the night, there's no time for crisp and polite sipping.

for red, they had a malbec and a tempranillo.

i love both varietals, but the malbec won out because of the end of the description alone.

"...along with velvety tannins."

i tell ya, right then the black velvet leggings i used to have and wear as a much younger lass popped into my head and that was all i needed to pick one over the other. they were some leggings in their day. plus, i've picked bottles over less.

sadly, the velvet leggings are long gone, but if i was lucky i could sip this delicious wine and think of more debaucherous times.

well, it's absolutely delicious. from the first sip there was the velvety smoothness promised on the label. at my general sip a day price point, the smoothness generally comes later. either after a glass or two and it mellows on my tongue, or the whole bottle and i'm drunk and who cares from smooth, huh?

this was "it" from the get go. it had a creeping warmth, too, that grabbed hold and kept the wine smooth sip after sip. sometimes, even an initially smooth wine can fall flat and become slightly drooly on the sides of the tongue after a bit.

oh, and the color. it had that great deep color you want to see in a glass. the kind of color one might imagine being sipped from a pewter goblet at a great feast, all roasting meats on the spit and flouncy shirt cuffs on the men and heaving bodices on the women. one can only imagine how the feast and the night will progress.

this is a wine meant to be savored with whatever you want to pair it with, and definitely shared with those you want to be with.

rich, romantic, potential debauchery in a bottle.

salud y amor y tiempo para disfrutarlo!

x.