Warm in the glass, cold outside!

After the buckets of snow that descended upon Reading last night and the 5 hour 45min journey I had to get home (the journey usually takes 22 mins!), the bad weather conditions this morning and the fact that I couldn't get our car off the driveway - I decided to work from home today. Tonight's wine needed to be from a sunny place - it is the only distraction from the snow at the moment!

Clos de los Siete, 2005, Mendoza, Argentina.

This wine is made from 7 vineyards all located at the foothills of the Andes. The project is managed by world famous (and somewhat controversial) wine consultant Michel Rolland. The wine is made from 50% Malbec, 30% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon & 10% Syrah. This is a big inky wine. Ripe, lush blackcurrant fruit and violets fill the nose. There are some real floral aromatics going on here. This wine has lots of upfront, ripe fruit but doesn't go as far as being jammy. The ripe blackcurrant fruit carries over onto the palate. The high alcohol is very evident in this wine (15%). There is good acidity and big tannins. Thankfully I think these tannins have mellowed a bit in bottle; I think they would have been huge and quite 'overpowering' and drying if this wine was drunk too young. There is good structure and some complexity to this wine. 4.2/5 (15% abv) widely available £12.99