Talk-A-Vino

First, a little confession – blogging daily is more challenging than I thought – and not even because I don’t what to write – no, simply because that there is not enough time in a day. Therefore, this blog post covers the wines I had a few days ago, while in Israel. And going forward, I will do what I can, so Daily Glass might not be all so daily. And secondly, if you are wondering what was the logic of tasting Malbec and Rioja together, the answer is very simple – there was none. Both wines happened to be at the table and here we go – two for one in this Daily Glass post.

Rioja Faustino VII 2008, Spain

I have to admit – Rioja wines are one of my favorites. Typically Rioja wines balance fresh fruit, smooth tannins and acidity, all of it paired with great ageing potential (especially in a good year). Faustino is one of the widely available Rioja wines, however looking at the Wine Spectator ratings throughout the year (I don’t have much experience with this particular brand), overall it should be classified as rather average. This was a first time I tried 2008 Rioja, so I don’t have a frame of reference yet (I do now, of course, after tasting this wine 🙂 ).

Talking about this particular Faustino VII Rioja 2008, it had a good amount of fruit, paired with good acidity. As this is young wine, tannins kicked in a bit later, but at a very powerful level, keeping the mouth plucked for a few minutes. It will be interesting to come back to this wine in a few years to see where it will evolve. Overall, it was lacking the “umph”, while still being quite drinkable. Therefore the rating is…

Drinkability: 7-

Teperberg Terra Malbec 2007, Israel

As of last 4-5 years, Israel is is very confidently taking its place in the wine world. Still not known all that much to the general wine buying public, outside of the kosher wines, of course, it is becoming quite well known among wine lovers, and prices of Israeli wines reflect it quite well.

Nevertheless, seeing Israeli Malbec was somewhat of a surprise. Until now, most of the Israeli reds I tried were made of of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah, of course in various proportions. But when it comes to Malbec, the first place which comes to mind is Argentina, despite the fact that Malbec originated in Cahors region in France (known there under a name of “cot”). Argentinean Malbecs are well known as good and very enjoyable wines – and so of course I was really curious to see how Israeli Malbec will fair.

To my surprise (as I have to admit), Teperberg Malbec exceeeded my expectations. Very bright, with great fresh fruit on the palate, raspberries and blackberries and very balanced tannins – in a blind tasting I’m sure I would put it more as California Syrah than Malbec (never mind even a glimpse of an idea that it can be Israeli wine). I was looking for a possible fault, and outside of a bit of an sharp edge in  the finish, which should probably be cured with another 2-3 years of aging), there was nothing to complain about. Therefore, this wine deserves a good grade:

Drinkability: 7+

If you are lucky enough to find this Teperberg Malbec, especially in US, do it – and you will not be disappointed.