Color - Dark red
Nose - Raspberry, flowers, dark cherry, burnt sugar
Taste - I was curious about this Chilean Malbec when I saw it on the shelf at Total Wine. I am glad I gave in to my curiosity, as it is a pretty good Malbec. It is quite smooth with raspberry and cherry fruit flavors and some nearly-sour grass or vegetable flavors on the mid-palate and then a medium-to-long finish that has just a touch too much alcohol heat for what I would have liked. It's a pretty big Malbec if you drink it right after opening, but if given the chance to decant it mellows too much for my taste and subsequently loses it's intense complexity. If consumed right after opening, it holds up quite well to Argentinian Malbecs, but over time loses the big fruit flavors (raspberry, cherry, etc) of the Malbecs I most enjoy. Most of it calms down and can seem to run together as far as flavors go. It's not bad, as it retains its nose and color and is still very drinkable, I just think it's better right out of the bottle.
Overall, this is a good wine, it's just a little too overpriced but worth the expense to try something new. It's better if consumed prior to decanting as it loses too much of it's depth if given too much time to breathe. I think the big flavors it has right out of the bottle, even the alcohol heat, are better than the rather mellow fruits and nearly invisible tannins when it's decanted. It's not great and the QPR is only fair. There are many Malbecs that are better and cheaper, Alamos and Flechas de los Andes are the two that come right to mind, but this is still a good effort and probably the best you will find from Chile. In short, you make the call on this one.
Anakena Wines
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