2010 Gascon Malbec, Argentina

Color – Purple with a violet rim

Nose – Blueberry, strawberry, cherry

Taste – I had the chance to spend an evening out with my wife and mutual friends at The Living Room Wine Café and Lounge. First off this is not to be confused with a wine bar, the difference between them being this was closer to a club/bar than a lounge/wine sipping spot. Regardless the wine list was lengthy though not overly pretentious however they were out of the wine I was interested in trying. They offered me this wine instead at a 12 dollar discount (I shudder to think I could have purchased this bottle for that amount at my local supermarket, instead I paid 20 dollars for this bottle). This wine is young and very fruit forward. There isn’t a lot going on as far as flavor is concerned; sugary blackberry, strawberry and cherry dominate the attack with just a little plum and raisin hints as well. The mid-palate is lacking any noticeable astringency, but does carry limited alcohol and biting tannins. The finish is medium in length with sour cherry, leather and some of that cough syrup flavor I detest in wine (though it’s just a hint of the cough syrup flavor). This wine is medium bodied though it wants to be a full bodied wine. The aftertaste is pleasing enough with flavors of stone fruit and molasses.

Overall, this wine is young, fruit forward and not worth 10 dollars much less 20. It’s a pleasing enough though completely un-complex red wine. It tastes almost like sugared fruit juice. If you don’t like particularly bold red wines or are used to sweet wines this one’s for you. Otherwise I advise passing on this one; it has a poor QPR and for the same price you can get a pretty darn good Malbec if you pick up the Kaiken.

Gascon Wines

2009 San Elias Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile

Color - Ruby red

Nose - Raspberry, green bell pepper

Taste - On the first sip, I taste lots of sour red fruit, though not sour enough to give me actual pucker, but there is also quite a bit of bite from the alcohol and acidity from the tannins. This has a lot of astringency though it mixes well with the bite and sour fruit flavors making a melange of flavors and textures that doesn't overwhelm me. I can taste some raspberry, sugared blackberry, and plum and then some hints of burnt caramel on the finish. There is nothing special about this wine, it's medium bodied with a medium-to-long finish. It's not complex but still good in it's simplicity. I didn't expect much going into this tasting and got a little more than I expected, especially with the alcohol and tannins working with the flavors rather than clashing with them. I'd say this is better when consumed by itself, improper pairing wrecks this wine and it can be pretty finicky. Pizza overwhelmed it, creamy pasta didn't effect it at all, and savory meat just made the wine feel "flabby" and "bland".

Overall, this is an OK fruit forward, young Cabernet Sauvignon. It has no idea where it's going and neither will you. It's something of an adventure with every sip you take, but I'd advise you to skip this treasure hunt and look elsewhere. While it's an OK wine, and the QPR is decent as well, there are a myriad of better wines at this price point. Go ahead and look for anything from decent Washington, Chile, or reputable California vineyards with like-priced wines. They'll all beat this every day of the week.