Challenger wine #9

Arca Nova Colheita 2011 Vinho Verde 11%

Vinho Verde was a wine that lost me a mark on my WSET exam, as I thought it was a grape varietal from Portugal, but it is a wine region in Portugal. So I had to try it.

Lovely! All is forgiven. It's a refreshing wine with a spritz. It's like a sav blanc spritzer but hasn't lost its flavour from watering it down. It's light and refreshing and finished with a nutty flavour as it passes over your bitter taste buds. I'm very impressed! It's not harsh or acidic even though it is awash with citrus and gooseberry flavour. From a wine called "verde", I was expecting young and harsh, but its not, not at all, at least not this Arca Nova.

I'm imagining myself sitting next to a swimming pool in the 1940s, Great Gatsby style.

We scored this a 3 on likeability and 3 for quality = 6/10, a surprisingly decent score.

Challenger wine #8

Marlborough 2011 Black Cottage Rose

What a delicious and refreshing rose!I normally avoid roses because I find they remind me of pot pourri. I tend to look for much drier roses to avoid that sticky sickly taste. This one, however, is dry, but everso fruity so you could mistakenly think it was off-dry.

Strawberry, vanilla, cherry and almond flavours. Almost like a bakewell tart,  but lighter. visions of candy stripes and old-fashioned sweet stalls.Fresh, vibrant, tasty.

I think that by being made in New Zealand this rose has managed to shed the frumpy moth-ball coat.

We jointly scored it a 3 for quality and 3 for likeability (I gave it a 4 really). In terms of quality, its very hard to find a very good quality rose, especially at the £10 price point. = 6/10

Challenger wine #7

McGuigan #0976 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

I'm not really sure why Badger selected this wine, he doesn't even like Cab Sav, but I think he went all out on this one. It was beautiful. The nose is very strong with smokey, fruit and eucalyptus aromas. But once you taste it you're in for a treat, its black fruits eucalyptus and coffee. Quite heady.

I imagine myself standing in parched hot sunlight surrounded by eucalyptus trees, and as a breeze wafts through the trees you can almost taste the red rock earth. True Australia.

We scored 4 for quality and 4 for likeability. 

Wine flight at Gaucho

Either it's new, or I hadn't noticed before, but Gaucho now do wine flights. We took one for £22 each and had a glass of each of Ruta 89 2011 (Cab Sav/Malbec/Merlot), Luigi Bossa Corte G 2010 (Syrah/Merlot) and Zuccardi (Temperanillo/Malbec), all from Mendoza.

Drinking a couple of wines at the same time allows you to make comparisons between even subtly different wines. We certainly could tell the difference between these three.

The Ruta we found to be fruity yet a little bitter,  like Kale. This one suited Badger because he likes a Malbec. The Bossa was punchy, round, and sledgehammer subtle (but in a good way!), its fun and definitely gets the party going. Badger said if it was a movie it would be Transporter 2. It has a lot of black fruit, ribena and black tea flavours. I enjoyed this one.

But the best was the Zuccardi. At first we weren't convinced, but then we noticed how velvety it was, very soft, almost like kissing. It has a hint of clove, but not enough to make you think of the dentist.

I did find it particularly difficult to get any imagery for these wines,probably because we were in a restaurant where there are so many smells and sounds to compete with. Best try these again at home eh?

Challenger wine #6

Barista Pinotage Western Cape South Africa 2010

I chose this one because I am not that fond of South African wines but Pinotage is a varietal that I enjoy exploring, it has so many variations on flavour yet always packs a punch.

I know the name gies it away, but I still wasn't expecting the overpowering aroma of coffee. Very odd! It has a lovely taste of coffee, chocolate and cherry. It is a little bitter though, although the tannins mellow and then the red fruit pushes through.

It reminds me of sitting in a diner in the USA drinking "cawfee", with sweet and savoury smells coming from the kicthen, watching the world go by.

Badger and I agreed the wine was well made, with a clever manipulation of the flavours to produce such a coffee intensity, so we give it 4 for quality. Only scores 3 on likeability, because although we would buy it again, it would probably be as a gimmick or for a friend.

Challenger Wine #5

Brown Brothers Special Late Harvest Orange Muscat & Flora, Victoria Australia, 2010

I'm not really sure why Badger risked a dessert wine - I don't tend to like them, not unless they're special, which normally demand high prices, a marmaladey Tokaji (pronounced Tokai) a recent favourite. But risk it he did.

Its a very fragrant wine, orangey, like summer in a citrus orchard, the colour of hot bright daylight. The aroma is outstanding, possibly the best thing about this wine. It has a slight spritz which makes it quite refreshing, and could possibly even be drunk as an aperitif. I taste orange, tropical fruits,with unfermented sugars hinting at Opal Fruits (Starburst). The flavours seem artificial almost, reminding me of a juice drink, so this would probably be a good wine for those of you who are less keen on dessert wines. Although I think you'd be better off saving yourself for a very good dessert wine.

We agree on the quality, a 3, its a "good" wine. Badger loves it, attempting to give it a 5, and I can barely finish the glass so stretch to give it a 2. We have to agree on a score for this challenge, so I give in and allow a 4 for likeability, because perhaps for sweet wine drinkers its enjoyable.

7/10 - begrudgingly. Next time I'll fight my corner. If I was more experienced in stickies I might have fought harder this time. Actually, looking at the label, the fact they have said "Victoria" and not a specific region, this should probably be classed as "acceptable" for quality. I'm re-scoring it with a sneaky 6/10.

Challenger wine #4

Finca Flinchman Gestos 2011 Malbec 14%

I chose this wine because it looks like the producer has taken care to ensure this wine is balanced, they have done something quite interesting... 50% of the Malbec grapes come from a high altitude (1100m) which gives it structure, acidity and complexity to the wine. 50% of the Malbec grapes come from a lower altitude (700m) which gives dense colour, fruitiness and sugar to provide the alcohol.

I think this one is big and juicy, fruity, sweeter than normal for a Malbec, nicely balanced and less tannins. I could bathe in this wine, its so velvety. However, Badger disagrees he thinks its not fruity and doesn't give him the satisfaction that normally comes with a Malbec. I think this is because its more delicate, so perhaps this is why it disappoints.

We disagreed on the score but settled for 3 for quality and 3 for likeability. 6/10, although I think it deserves more.