weekly winedown

Weekly Winedown #3 Otra Vida Malbec.

Welcome to the Weekly Winedown. Each week I selflessly drink wine for you offer a review.
Please don’t expect anything professional, I consume a lot of wine but I’m no pro.

The only real ‘rule’ I’m putting in place is that the wine is to be under £8 a bottle. #keepitclassy.Apparently my review last week  wasn’t as successful as I’d hoped. Apparently the whole chewy/swimming pool thing wasn’t taken in the fond way I intended and it wasn’t enough to make people want to try it

“To say I’m not a fan of red wine, after reading your review this week I definitely won’t be trying it”
Rory – last week

I meant both in a very positive way, I don’t like ‘thin’ wine, I feel robbed and you’ve got to admit that warm smell of swimming pool is quite a nice, comfortable kind of smell…..Just me? OK!

Moving swiftly on!

This week I struggled to decide which wine to go for, as I’ve said before I’m always drawn to French and it’s hard to break habits.
I got Rory to choose a country to make my choice easier.
He chose Argentina so I chose Otra Vida Malbec, £5.65 from Ocado, because I liked the label.

I’ve been getting my wine from Ocado simply because it’s easier to get when my shopping is delivered, I know that some towns can’t get deliveries from there but I really can’t go back to using Asda. They became so bad!
“We’ve not got the bread you wanted so we substituted it with this sock. We’re also out of squash so we substituted that with the bread you initially ordered and we told you we didn’t have it”*

Really Asda, sort your schizz out and I’ll consider coming back to you!

Anyway. Back to it .
I bought the Otra Vida because I liked the label and the price.

The official blurb on the wine reads thusly

“Otra Vida – Another life in Argentina, “La Otra Vida” is a relaxing and pleasurable time, away from the rigours of daily life and work. Whichever way you like to enjoy life, enjoy it with Otra Vida.
Wine of Mendoza, Argentina, Smooth, medium-bodied Malbec that perfectly combines plum and red berry flavours, Suitable for vegetarians”
Seriously.
That’s it.
That’s all it says.
I’ll be honest, I’m not holding out much hope for this one. It’s focusing a lot on ‘taking time out’ and not a lot on flavour and stuff. It’s either terribly confident in itself or just hopes you drink enough  that you get so swept away from the rigours of life you could be drinking turps.
Here goes…..The colour isn’t what I’d normally hope for, it’s kind of light red. Not pink but not rich red like heavy velvet curtains, more like cheap halloween  fake blood red.
The smell is bitter and sharp. A slight hint of wet dog. It made my tongue feel funny just smelling it.
And now for the taste…..It isn’t as bad as all indicators suggested it would be.
It’s fruity,  like dark berries, the ones they put next to cheesecake but you never eat because they’re a bit tart. It’s a little bitter but also a bit sweeter than I’d usually choose (I know this makes no sense but it does) I normally really enjoy a Malbec because it’s quite full bodied, this one isn’t.
It’s a wine for when you’ve got friends round, it’ll go with any food simply because it’s wet and you’re thirsty.I feel like I’m being unnecessarily harsh but it is being pretty harsh itself. I think I was spoilt with last weeks surprise wine!
Today the wine is an apres Ikea whilst  numbing feelings of complete dismay, anger and frustration because Seth has decided, once again, that walking is for losers.
Maybe this is why I was hoping for more from it, because I’ve been looking forward to it all day? Tomorrow is a whole new day and I’m sure it will be better.
Besides, the more of this I drink this wine the more I feel I’m drifting “away from the rigours of daily life”.
Name – Otra Vida Malbec
Price – £5.65
Colour – Light red.
Smell – Sharp and earthy.
Taste – Bitter berries with a sweet aftertaste.
Goes well with – Despair and apres shopping.
Overall score –  2.5/5  An all rounder, largely unoffensive. Does exactly what it says on the tin (label)
So that’s this weeks Weekly Winedown, just like wine they get better the more you ingest…..
Where last week I learnt you shouldn’t judge a wine by it’s label, this week I also learnt I shouldn’t judge a wine by it’s label.What’s in your wine cellar/flask this week?
I need suggestions.
 *This might not be an entirely accurate recollection of events.

The Tale of Mummyhood

 

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