Date: 30 March, 2012
What: 2010 Omaha Bay Vineyard Malbec, Matakana, New Zealand
Purchased: Cellar door, around NZD$30, I think
Food: Pizza
Comments: not a grape I have had much of as a straight varietal, but they were everywhere in NZ! This is on the more linear end (c.f. Kidnapper Cliffs, a more round and filling wine that I am keen to hunt down and blog about). In a blind tasting you might go with a cool climate shiraz - spicy, peppery and a bit of dark fruit, both in the shozz and in the gob. Something else, too...licorice? Not in a sharp aniseed sense, but a more general, Darrel Lea soft licorice thing. Background only, so let's not get too carried away. Enjoyable drop without being a blockbuster. Friday night pizza is indeed the slot for it, but would be an interesting thing to sneak into a cool climate shiraz line up.
