Uncorked #9: 2010 Casillero del Diablo Malbec

Welcome to Uncorked! Where I feature a wine that I've tried and let you know my thoughts on it. There is a little disclaimer: I am by far no wine expert --I am just going to tell my thoughts on a wine. Some wine snobs out there might turn their nose up at my opinion and that's fine with me! Wine is meant to be savored and enjoyed! I might throw out some wine terms here and there and if I do, I will make sure that I give you the definition and try to explain them to the best of my abilities. My goal is to share some tasty wine picks with the world and hopefully encourage some of you out there to try a new wine. No bottle shall be discriminated against, price is no matter (with in reason), and this is just going to be all about exploring the world of wine.

We spent this last weekend as a mini vacation in Minneapolis and had such a great time! Here's is our view of downtown from our hotel room. We had two great bottles of wine while there and I will post one this week and the other next week.

This week's wine is:

2010 Casillero del Diablo Malbec

Description: Sorry guys, forgot to copy down the wording on the bottle

Price: $11.99 per bottle
Region: Rapel Valley, Chile

Our lovely bottle model is Melissa, a family friend (or practically an adopted sister) of my husband. Anyways, she has recently been diving into Malbecs, so we picked out this one to try. We were staying in a hotel room, so we poured the wine into the classiest plastic cups (you know the ones that come wrapped in plastic in your hotel room) and headed down to the hot tub with wine in hand. Upon trying the wine, my first thought was "WOW! This thing is sharp*!!" I set it down and decided to let it breathe*. After about 10 minutes we picked it back up and it was amazing the change in the wine! As Melissa said "The wine was bright at first, then fruity with a hint of spice. It's better when allowed to breath for a while."

Would I buy it again? Yes, we all agreed that we would buy it again. In fact, shortly after this wine I was a local wine store and met a girl who was pretty fond of this wine. She told me the translation of name is the Devil's Cellar. Interesting name, considering the sharpness at first. The wine is a nice mid-ranged price and well worth a try.

Fun Wine Fact: The original Malbec vineyards were located mainly in France but a hard freeze in 1956 wiped out approximately 75% of the Malbec grapes. Now most of the Malbec vineyards are located in Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States.

Pairs Well With: Spicy foods such as Mexican, Latin, Cajun, Indian, and Italian dishes. They also pair well with grilled steaks, BBQ, sausage, and chili.

Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.
– Benjamin Franklin

*Sharp- Sharp and its opposite, smooth, are words used to describe the acidic taste in a wine. Sharp wines are those in which the acidity is an overpowering characteristic. Also called Acrid.
*Breathe- Letting a wine breathe simply means allowing the wine to contact oxygen. Helps soften the tannins and acidity and develops the nose.

~Beth