Tasting Rex-Goliath's Malbec

Name: Rex-Goliath

Variety: Malbec

Region: Bottled in Madera, California

Country: Argentina

Year: 2013

Price: $8.99

Winery Review: “Our Malbec’s sweet spice intensity, lush texture, and silky finish is like dancing a seductive Tango – delightfully balanced with all the right moves.”

Personal Review: To be honest, my first impression of this wine was not an exciting one. The first smell revealed a very strong alcohol aroma that burned my nose! I continued swirling and warming up my glass, hoping that it would release more of the wines character. After trying two more times to get past the alcohol smell, I detected a slight cherry aroma and lots of black pepper. When it came time to taste this wine, I followed Dr. Boyer’s instructions of “chewing” the wine and sucking in air as well. This changed my experience of wine tasting immensely! The wine was very spicy and acidic on the first taste. After a few more sips, I realized that the wine was drying out my mouth and coating it with a thin film. The high acidity made my mouth feel hot as well.

I decided to try this wine with small pieces of apple smoked Gouda cheese, in anticipation of calming down the acidity and hotness of the wine. It really helped to tame it! The smoky flavors of the cheese and the spice of the wine went very well together. I began enjoying the wine much more after discovering this combination! I would definitely recommend eating some sort of smoked meat or fish with this wine. 

Week 1: My Wine Journey

Coming from a large, Italian family, every holiday and family gathering has involved wine for as long as I can remember. I would try little sips of both red and white wine occasionally during the holidays when I was younger, but I felt the same way about it every time: it burned! I had tried Merlot, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Chianti, and more, but I wanted nothing to do with ANY of them!  The red definitely had a worse burn than the white, but neither were appealing to me. I couldn't understand why my family members liked wine so much and chose to drink something that tasted so badly!

It wasn't until I got older and came to college that I started realizing what all the fuss about wine was. After my freshman year, I participated in a study abroad program for two weeks after my spring semester. We traveled to France, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany. In Paris, the first wine we drank was a Rose wine. It was delicious! I had no idea wine could taste like that! It was sweet, fruity, smooth, and didn't burn the back of my throat like all the rest of the wine’s I had tried. After returning from Europe, I was excited to start trying more wines. I discovered that the more wines I tried, the less they began to burn my throat. I soon realized that I actually really enjoy drinking a glass of red wine with dinner and casually with friends and family. I love how it can bring a group of people together with laughter and celebration.

I have never been able to understand what my parents are talking about when they describe their wines as having an “oaky” flavor, or tasting like cherries or pepper. As I’ve tried more wines, I am still not sure what these descriptions mean or how to taste them. I’m looking forward to learning more about how to describe wine and its flavor throughout this class. I am also interested in becoming more familiar with various regions of wine and the grapes from those areas. I believe that being educated about wine is a very important element to our society, and I would like to gain an insight into the culture behind it. I can't wait to get started on this unique journey!