Originally posted on Drinks Are On Me
It’s friggin’ cold outside. Nothing makes me crave a big spicy red wine more than stupidly cold weather. My first (and last – did I mention it’s friggin’ cold?) venture outside today was to Walsh’s in Brighton to pick up some wine. I was looking for something under $15, something really warm and delicious, and something that wouldn’t go terribly with the frozen pizza I intended to make for dinner.
Dale makes this weird cough/laugh noise when I say this, but generally I choose wines that have neat looking labels. By neat looking I mean an aesthetic I appreciate – something about the Cupcake label looks weird to me, so I never buy it. I nearly bought a bottle of Spring Seed though, because I adore the label. Look, I don’t keep up with wine news so I don’t know what’s hot or tasty or the new Britney Spears of the wine world or anything. I just start with what appeals to me and taste from there.
That said, I ended up bringing home an Agua de Piedra Gran Reserva Malbec, partially because I liked how official and elegant the label was and partly because the guys at Walsh’s had done a very nice write up about it and I believed them. Turns out the label and the poster didn’t lie. I really like this wine – it smells fruity and spicy in a pretty equal balance. At first taste it’s really warm and spicy and flavorful, but then it rolls off the tongue quickly enough that the taste isn’t overwhelming. Very smooth and not so dry as to leave your tongue feeling parched. At the time of this writing I haven’t made it to the frozen pizza pairing, but based on how lovely it pairs with savory palmiers, I’ve got a good feeling.