The Burping Sherpa » Cholila Ranch http://theburpingsherpa.com Sending Missives about Morsels and other Pop Culture Treats Mon, 24 May 2010 02:22:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Where Have All the Good $10 Malbecs Gone? http://theburpingsherpa.com/2010/01/14/where-have-all-the-good-10-malbecs-gone/ http://theburpingsherpa.com/2010/01/14/where-have-all-the-good-10-malbecs-gone/#comments Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:59:18 +0000 admin http://theburpingsherpa.com/?p=232 As a trained Latinamericanist (yes, that is a word), philosophically speaking I am way south-of -the-border when it comes to matters of fermented grape juice. Translation: you can just call me Little Miss Malbec.

Unfortunately Malbec is going through a bit of a galaxy-ending, super-nova explosion right now and anyone and everyone is planting and vinifying Argentina’s sweetheart grape.

Cholila Ranch. $9.99 at Whole Foods Image: Amy Loeffler

Cholila Ranch. $9.99 at Whole Foods Image: Amy Loeffler

Malbec has always been a great value for the money and as Lewis Black attested in the Wine Spectator, you can procure a decent bottle of Malbec for 15 smackers that is not only drinkable, but downright enjoyable. 20 smackers and you might as well keep that bottle to yourself. In a closet. Far away from friends and family.

No doubt the grape’s recent surge in popularity carries with it a sinister set of unintended consequences. I started seeing evidence of this when I poured for the now defunct Billington Wines and their major money maker, a lower-end Malbec from Nicolas Catena, was sold to E and J Gallo.  The inevitable conclusion of what was sure to be a tremendous boost in production  meant that quality would suffer. Needless to say, it’s been a loooong time since I have had the pleasure of enjoying an honest-to-goodness $10 Malbec from Gallo or otherwise.

Last night I picked up a bottle of Cholila Ranch Malbec from Whole Foods for $9.99 in the hopes of discovering a rare item: a drinkable and mass-produced, inexpensive wine.  The wine definitely exhibited characteristics of Malbec with hints of violet on the nose and dark fruit and vanilla on the palate. The wine, however, tasted like it had been put through a teleportation device that reassembled its wine atoms incorrectly. The nuances of the flavors settled on my palate imprecisely like a collage made without the use of scissors.

Needless to say I was very disappointed. I know a 10-dollar wine is not going to rock my world like a hunat-dolla Pinot Noir, but frankly I think I would rather spend 10 more dollars and drink something I really want to drink than wish away my dinner lamenting the 10 bucks I wasted on a bottle of too-rough-around-the-edges- wine.

What about anyone else out there? Have you had a Malbec worth writing home about recently?

-Amy

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