"Altivo" Syrah, 2010 - Argentina

In celebration of getting out of class early and the incoming warm weather, I stopped for a bottle of wine on my way home. Nothing was catching my eye - the trifecta of delicious, price, and novelty just was not meeting in any one bottle.

And then I saw the Altivo Syrah from Argentina for $10 and said "Oooh, let's give it a shot."

Now armed with a poor man's charcuterie platter of staples from the house, I sit down to try it.

Upon pouring the glass, I got a lot of yeast, like I was baking bread. I love that scent, but does it belong in wine? Then it cleared to a lighter, brighter scent, like opening the windows on a bright day after you've cleaned the house thoroughly.

The taste was nice and light. There's not a lot of bite, and my first impression was light chocolate and raspberries, with a hint of pepper. Not a very tannic wine, and it goes well with the light meat-and-cheese platter I've made for myself.

I think this wine will be revisited. I hope it does well chilled (yes, I chill my red sometimes, so sue me, it's delicious)

'Alamos' Malbec, 2011 - Argentina

After the last er, experience, I was looking for something inexpensive to flush the memory from my palate.

I've enjoyed Argentinian Malbecs in the past for about $20, so when I saw the Alamos for about half that price, I jumped on it.

A taste reminds me of sharp blackberries, maybe with a bit of cherry mixed in. There's a little spicy taste, like the favoured child of ginger and cinnamon. The flavour is deep and pleasing on my tongue, with a hint of naughty dark, like your fantasies of Lady Heather from CSI... C'mon, it can't just be Grissom thinking of this.

As the AFC loses to the NFC in Hawaii, I sit back and admire the opaque burgundy colour. Alas, I've already lost the aroma of it because I waited a little too long. A swirl gives me no surprises from the above description.

I think I'd really enjoy some red meat to go with this, accompanied by tasty seasonal veggies and mashed potatoes, or a good Robbie Burns dinner of haggis, bashed neeps, and other slightly unhealthy stuff. This wine can hold its own.

Moms Who Need Wine rates this a 9 out of 10, and I agree. For the price paid, this is a solid wine to keep around.

In other news, there is a brand up here named No Name. It's cheap, functional, and now producing wine? I've got to try this, and I'll get back to you.

'Wine Men of Gotham' Syrah/Grenache 2011 - Australia

I bought this on a whim - it was inexpensive, it had an interesting name, and it was a Syrah mixed with Grenache. The Boyfriend was outside in the car, it was a cold winter night, and I felt a bit rushed.

Upon returning home, it sat for a night (surprise, I can do it!), but I opened it after the successful completion of an exam.

As I watched the wine pour (glug?) into the stemless glass I enjoy on Casual Wine Night (which is any night I don't have guests over), I felt a smidge of alarm. Should I still be able to see the bottom of the glass after a nice five ounces?

Still, some wines are lighter than others, so let's not get ahead of ourselves. We talk about ourselves in the plural sometimes.

Alas, upon first taste (because I didn't take much time to sniff it), the taste was... thin. For anything involving the word syrah, I had expected deeper, more interesting tones. This was the flavour equivalent of Shakespeare reading bad fanfic.

You may note that I'm writing this on a Friday night, when the bottle was opened on a Thursday. Some wines do okay after being open a night. Some do well, or on rare occasion, even please me more.  This is not that wine. It's still bad fanfic.

Now that I think about it, the caricatures on the front have a faintly sinister appearance. "Try this wine. It's right up your alley. This dark, unassuming alley," at which point something leaps out of the dark, clubs you over the head with an empty wine bottle, and takes all the money you think you saved by buying a less expensive wine.

This is that wine. Just don't.

Rated? 1.5 out of 5 - half a point for inexpensiveness, one point for alcohol content.

(Author's note: I'd describe the wine itself, but I've already had too much of it. The latest attempt to describe its taste resembled the word 'Benadryl', so I'll give the poor Wine Makers of Gotham a break and stop there)

Initial Posting

"I may not know wine, but I know what I like."

I said this once on a wine-connoisseur's blog, may he forgive me. And then I read a book and realized why this was a naive and faulty position.

Upon deciding that, I figured that I am what I am, and if I'm a naive, faulty wine-drinker, the least I can do is write about it and give the savvy people something to laugh about.

And I'll get some practice in writing. Someone wins.

My palate is carefully divided between 'what I like' and 'what I don't like', though I try to have reasons for disliking something. My nose is sometimes as sharp as a dull knife, sometimes as sharp as a teddy bear. I hope that gives you some idea as to what you may get here.

Most of all, I think I'm funny. I know I'm peculiar. And I really really know I'm amateur.

All I can say is, thanks for coming, and I hope this amuses.