[Argentina] Familia Zuccardi ‘Zuccardi Q’ Malbec 2013

Nowadays, I became interested in tasting of Malbec wine. Maybe last time, I had YarraYering Agincourt which has little bit of Malbec in the blend, make me want to try the Malbec from Argentina. At first, I tired Santa Julia Reserva Malbec 2014 from Argentina Uco Valley, which is not an expensive wine buy from Supermarket. Overall, this Santa Julia Reserva provided basic Malbec characteristic likes dark red purple color, rich, juicy, ripe and warm fruit flavors, tasted full body, dry, balance acid but lack of tannins. Normally, Malbec wine would contain higher level of tannins. Then, 2^nd time I tried Zuccardi Q Malbec 2013 which buy from Watson wine shop. Unexpectedly, Santa Julia and Zuccardi are owned by Zuccardi Family.   

Zuccadi winery is in Uco Valley, the major wine region of Mendoza, Argentina. The climate here is high altitude, dry, high temperatures during the daytime and at night the temperature will decrease to be cooler. The winery located in the foot of Andes Mountains which is desert area and the weather is dry, vineyard here must need to use irrigation cultivation, the only water source came from Anders Mountain snows. In the old time the owner Joss Zuccardi father Alberto Zuccardi developed the first irrigation system in Argentina. After the success of the irrigation system, Alberto became interested on winemaking, around 60’s he established Zuccardi winery. The Malbec for Zuccardi Q is from 2 different vineyards La Consulta and Vista Flores. After fermentation, the wine matured in French oak for 12 months and 6 months more in bottle before release.

My Taste Note: I decanted the wine for 30 mins. The color shows dark purple, it has complicate aromas such as, plum, cherry, little strawberry, spices, herbs, licorice, lavender, and mint. The palate is dry and full body, it has soft acid with firm tannins and slightly sweet for aftertaste. Actually, drinking this wine is similar to Chinese Herbal Tea, it has complicate taste and little bit of tannins astringent. Overall, this is worth to drink, which is around HKD $130.   

   

Santa Julia Reserva Malbec 2013

近來,我突然愛上了Malbec這款葡萄,可能上次飲Yarra Yering Agincourt內有少少Malbec成份,所以令我想試清楚來自阿根廷Malbec的味道是如何.剛開始的時候我在百佳超市買了Santa Julia Reserva Malbec 2014來自阿根廷Uco Valley,這枝酒價錢大約$100以下.整體這枝Santa JuliaReserva都有Malbec的基本味道,例如顏色上有深紫紅色,口感豐富,帶有溫暖和濃厚的果味, 酒身偏厚,DRY,不算太酸只是單寧比較薄.正常Malbec的紅酒都會帶多少少單寧. 第二枝,在Watson Wine買了一枝Zuccardi Q Malbec 2013.當我上網找多一些資料,原來Santa Julia和Zuccardi這兩個酒莊,都是Zuccardi家族旗下的酒莊.

Zuccardi酒莊是位於阿根廷的主要酒產區Uco Valley,這裡的氣候都是高海拔,白天溫度會較高, 夜間溫度會降低,葡萄熟成時間比較長.酒莊設置在Andes Mountain山腳,周邊都是沙漠,由於這裡的氣候比較乾燥,葡萄園需要用灌溉種植,唯一的水源是來自Andes Mountains山上的積雪.在1915年莊主Joss Zuccardi的父親Alberto Zuccardi在阿根廷研發了第一套灌溉系統.之後,當灌溉系統成功後Alberto開始對釀酒有興趣,大約在60年代他創立了Zuccardi酒莊.這款Zuccardi Q的葡萄是來自兩個不同的葡萄園La Consulta and Vista Flores.當酒釀成後會放在法國木桶裡陳年12個月和裝瓶後再陳年多6個月.

My Taste Note: 飲之前我將紅酒Decant 30mins. 顏色是深紫色,帶有複雜芳香包括有,西梅,車厘子,小小士多啤利,薰衣草,香料,草藥,甘草和輕微薄荷.味道方面是Dry, Full Body,適當酸度,帶有精細單寧,不過在舌底可感覺到輕微的單寧澀,最後Aftertaste略有微甜.其實這款酒有小小似飲緊涼茶,複雜的味道加一些單寧澀和輕微的甜味.整體我覺得這枝紅酒非常低飲,價錢大約$130.

[Australia] Yarra Yering Agincourt 2011

Chinese Lunar New Year is coming soon, and due to New Year I’ll have around a week holidays. During New Year, we will attend on different family gatherings or dinners with friends. But besides that, I also like to spend time in home for wine tasting, which is quite relax. Few months before, I bought 2 different bottles of Yarra Yering (YY) at Watson Wine, YY Dry Red No.1 2008 and YY Agincourt 2011. Dry No. 1 is a Bordeaux Blend wine includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot, Agincourt mainly blend with Cabernet Sauvignon and little bit of Malbec. Both wines are interested to try, I just randomly pick Agincourt to taste first. Before tasting, I tried to search more information, on YY official website shows Agincourt 2011 which is the first vintage and the vines was plant in 90’s. Therefore, Agincourt seems like is 2^nd wine of YY and famous wine critic James Halliday gives a high score for this wine.

My Taste Note: Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec are dark skin grapes and give black fruit, rich, medium to full body and high tannic wine. So, I decanted it about1.5 hrs. First, the wine shows purple color. The aromas include plum, leather, green pepper and herbs. I thought, this wine would be full body with strong tannic but it wasn’t that powerful. In the mouth, it is dry, medium body, balance acid and smooth tannic. After taste has rich fruit characters, little sweet and mellow tannic. Overall, this wine is excellent, with dense body, rich flavor and silky tannic.

還有幾天就是農曆新年, 今年農曆新年我就有大約一星期的假期. 不過在農曆新期間需要出席不同的家庭聚會和朋友的飯局. 除此之外,我最愛就是在家裏品酒,感覺好輕鬆. 幾個月之前我在Watson Wine買了兩瓶YarraYering (YY) 紅酒,YY Dry Red No.1 2008 and YY Agincourt 2011. Dry No. 1是一枝以Bordeaux Blend為主的葡萄酒,包括有 Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot,而Agincourt主要品種有Cabernet Sauvignon和少少Malbec. 兩枝酒我都好想試,但是我選擇先飲Agincourt. 我在網上找過一些關於這枝酒的資料,在YY的官方網站看到2011年是Agincourt第一個年份和釀這款酒的葡萄樹是在90代開始種,所以感覺上Agincourt好像YY的副牌酒,還有著名評酒家James Halliday都給好評. 

我的品酒筆記: Cabernet Sauvignon和Malbec這兩款葡萄都帶有深色果皮，味道是有漿果風格,豐富和飽滿,Medium to Full Body,單寧會比較高的葡萄酒.所以我Decant了1個半小時.酒的顏色是紫色,剛開始的時候芳香都包括有西梅,皮革,青椒和草藥.之前我以為這款酒會比較重口味和有強勁的單寧.不過飲落原來是很平滑,味道是Dry, Medium Body,平穩酸度和非常柔順的單寧. After taste有豐富果味帶有輕微的甜和成熟單寧.整體我覺得這款酒是非常出色,有濃厚Body,豐富和飽滿味道和絲一般的單寧.