Happy Friday, friends!
Today is happy indeed because I get to bring you a new edition of Twelve Dollar Bottle, which is always really fun for me! Today’s bottle (from Colony Wine Market) is Tinto Negro Malbec. The lovely label spoke to me, as did the $12 price tag, so this was our selection for this round! And we had so much fun with some new co-tasters! Josh Williams is one of Price’s childhood friends from Belzoni, and his wife Christa is just the cutest thing! She and I were pregnant at the same time– her little boy is a couple of weeks younger than Lily Ryan! So we had them over for pizza and wine while we let the kiddos run wild. What you won’t see in this transcript is all of the screaming that was going on in the background and all the times we were interrupted to tie shoes, help wipe a butt, or kiss a scrape. So that will explain why it might seem a little jumpy! š
Here’s what we were working with:
(As info, we did a grab bag of pizzas from Pizza Shack in Madison and we knew the BBQ Chicken and plain ol Pepperoni would be good, but we were not prepared for the awesomeness that was their Chicken Curry pizza! WHOA. Definitely ordering that again! And the chocolate chip cookies were THE chocolate chip cookies. They never fail.)
Here’s what we thought:
Laurel: So what we have here is Tinto Negro Malbec from Argentina.
( we all take sips )
Laurel: This is super smooth! I forgot to ask Scott, the owner of the wine store, what this would pair best with. He usually gives me an idea of what to drink it with so bring out the personality.
Price: It is very smooth
Christa: I feel that chocolate chip cookies are a really good pairing for red wine, any time.
Price: And pizza!
Josh: And bologna sandwiches.
( Price reading the label )
Price: āLight Oak Aging.ā I donāt taste the oak but it is very smooth.
Josh: I smell the oak.
Laurel: It smells really peppery to me, but it doesnāt taste super peppery to me.
Price: Itās super smooth from start to finish.
Laurel: Itās very easy to drink
Price: No bite.
Laurel: Agreed. Very little bite. In general, I kinda like a little bite, though.
Price: I like this, but I prefer them less peppery. You could get in trouble drinking this, though, because it goes down really easily. You could easily make your way through two or three glasses before realizing how much youāve had!
Christa: I really enjoy this!
Laurel: Josh, are you much of a wine drinker, or not really? Youāre awfully quiet over there!
Josh: I like it!
Christa: Heās a very good wine picker of unknown wines. He always picks good ones. I’m terrible at picking good wines.
Laurel: How do you pick? Whatās your secret?
Josh: Itās a very complicated process. Iāll explain it, but itās going to be hard for everyone to follow. What I do, is I go in the wine store. Just walk right through the door. I go around to the wine racks until I find bottles you canāt see through. Thatās how you know youāre in the right color section. Then I move my hand over them and just pick one up.
Laurel: So your hand has a magical force in it that draws you to great wines?
Josh: Something like that!
Price: As you can tell, my picking process is based on seasons. Since itās duck season, I bought a bottle of Decoy on my last run. And I had to get 19 Crimes because I find labels that talk to you to be very interesting. Iām also in on any label that has an old school criminal on it, so 19 Crimes is a double win.
(( SIDE NOTE: If you like red wine, go to Colony Wine Market, buy a bottle of 19 Crimes, then download the 19 Crimes app. The person on the label comes alive and tells you what his crime was! Pretty cool)
Laurel: I usually gravitate towards artsy labels.
Price: Thereās one wine you really like that has Great Gatsby looking fonts on it. What is thatā¦ La Posta?
Laurel: La Posta is visually my favorite. Because of the labels! And I do love La Posta malbec.
Josh: I usually stick to cabs that have labels with dark colors. To be honest.
Laurel: Ok so overall, I would say this is a pretty crowd pleasing wine! Suits pretty much any taste.
Price: I like to contrast smooth wines with a cigar. So I think this would be a great wine to have with a cigar.
Laurel: Ok I’m gonna experiment and take a bite of cookie then drink another sip and see how that affects the taste.
Price: I bet this would be a great balance for anything acidic.
Josh: I’m with you, Laurel, I think I like the wines that do have a little more bite at the end. Kinda make your face draw up a little bit.
Laurel: I like that too. But Price likes āem smooth like this.
Christa: This is like a good āMommy needs a glass of wine at night before going to bedā wine. You donāt really need to eat anything with it for it to be good.
Laurel: Yeah, I just ate a bite of cookie and sipped in this intermittently and it didnāt really help bright out any more flavor. So I agree, itās kind of just good on its own.
Christa: I really like this.
Laurel: The label is beautiful. That might be my favorite thing about this wine! But since we had such a wide range of feelings about this bottle, I think whoever sees this post needs to go get a bottle to try for themselves.
//// and, scene ////
So overall, we determined that the label is lovely and that the wine itself is super smooth and not very peppery. Some people like that, and some, not so much! I do still think you need to go try a bottle for yourself to see what you think! š
Thank y’all SO much for stopping by today. Love having you along! š Have a fabulous weekend!
Supported by Colony Wine Market. AllĀ opinions are my own, as always!
