colour is ruby/violet

smell: hints of raspberries, not a lot of bouquet to work with here

taste: chewy, a hint of blackberry, touch of cherry; short finish

not a complex wine; very simple; perhaps a good food wine?!

inital score: 82 points

maverickdrinker,

Did you decant this at all? For some odd reason I have found this wine shows much better after being open a full day or even two. This was true with the '02 vintage of this wine, which I found was best after being open for a couple of days, so thought the '03 might be the same.

Isn't this is WS90pt wine? I was looking a getting a few for use over the holidays but I guess I'll have to taste one 1st before picking up more.

Thanks for the tn

I decanted it last night before trying it. I have some leftover so I might try it again today.

I woke up with the sniffles so I think that I might not have all of my faculties working properly. I can't even smell the bouquet right now so my judgement may be off.

Try a bit today and if you have enough save a bit for tomorrow night, which will give it two days, and see how it progresses. I would be interested in reading your updates.

We liked this wine a lot, especially for the price CAD$14, as I recall? ).

We found it to be a less rustic, fruiter style of malbec than the Catena malbecs, of which we have had many.

I would score this a solid 88 points, myself.

maverickdrinker,

FWIW my post on the '02 from a while back can be found here. Wondering if you had any left from your '03 bottle, and how it's drinking at this point.

I have to say that this note may have to be taken with a grain of salt. I can now confirm that I officially have a cold and my spidey sense is all f*&cked up.

I do have some left in my decanter, however, I can't smell anything. Currently, I am enjoying a 2005 vintage cup of neo citron

A

You need to drink some Vintage Port instead. Believe me, it will cure anything that ails you!

This wine has showed up at my local Costco, for about $10 a bottle. Worth buying?

No
The '02 was a great QPR. This one is more acidic, less extracted and a low 80's at best.

Rothko,

I saw it at our Costco as well for $10.99 and bought a bottle but haven't had the chance to taste it yet. As soon as I do I will post notes on it.

I have to say that I was unimpressed with this bottle. I would try a bottle first before buying a lot.

quote:

Originally posted by Emilio:
Rothko,

I saw it at our Costco as well for $10.99 and bought a bottle but haven't had the chance to taste it yet. As soon as I do I will post notes on it.

Please do.

This wine is sourced from a single old vine vineyard in the Lunlunta area of Mendoza, planted in 1920. I have rated both the '02 and '03 at 90 points - this is a great value (around $15 usually). I do find however that the wine needs considerable air - it often seems simple, grapey, almost candied at first. But after decanting it shows its depth and complexity.

quote:

I do find however that the wine needs considerable air - it often seems simple, grapey, almost candied at first. But after decanting it shows its depth and complexity.

James, I'm really happy you jumped in on this topic, as I almost didn't buy the wine because of this topic. Will give it a proper try.

Yaron.

Perhaps I had an off bottle; will try another this weekend and post TNs.

Thanks James for the notes; I hope the next bottle will be more enjoyable

Definitely let me know what you guys think...

I couldn't resist and opened a bottle tonight, no decanting. Nice nose of blackberry and vanilla. Medium bodied, with a predominant taste of blackberry and mocha. Finish is long with a lot of bitter dark chocolate flavors and smooth tannins, but I found it unbalanced. 84 points right now but I will revisit this over the next 48 hours to see how it develops and will post additional notes. The '02 vintage of this wine improved significantly with a lot of air time so I'm hoping for a similar metamorphosis with the '03.

Tasted this again at the 24 hour mark and it was about the same as when opened. Tasted again at 48 hours and it improved. Better balance and some more fruit coming through. Still a lot of that heavy, dark chocolate/mocha taste on the finish. Tasted again at 72 hours and about the same. Finished last night, on the 4th day, and it was starting to fade.

I think this was best after 48-72 hours and at it's best I would rate it 86 points. Can't rate it higher as it just didn't seem to have the balance and the complexity of the '02 vintage which I thought was a 90 point wine. James is obviously getting something more from this wine than I am, so you might want to try it for yourself!

I grabbed various inexpensive bottle from Costco a month ago. I had no idea if any of them had been rated. I was very impressed by the Norton. I thought I had only grabbed bottles under $12. The second bottle was similar. Decanted and tasted over 2 days. I would tend to agree with James ratings.

Has anyone cellared prior vintages? The old vines and need to decant makes me think a few years in the basement might payoff

Andrew

Thanks for the notes guys - it's always interesting to see the different reactions to a wine.

As for the aging question - I believe the wine could age - meaning it will last for a few years, but I do not believe it would develop any signficantly different flavors. Instead the baby fat and fruit would simply become more subdued over 3-5 years, but I doubt the wine would transform into anything else. I think the Norton Malbec Reserve is a wine to drink in its first 1 to 2 years, to maximize its fruit.

I just opened this and splash decanted. A little too bitter but I can see it coming together. I am going to pour it back into the bottle and taste it over the next few days.

I did enjoy this just fine at the 24 hour mark. Bitter flavor is predominant but it is also sour/acidic and slightly fruity (tastefully restrained). I think the Cot I recently had was slightly better than this. As of today my appreciation for Malbec is growing. I guess I agree with Molesworth's 90 points. This makes me want to drink the Cot I had recently had and re-evalute it. I think it might have been better than what I gave it credit for at the time.

89-90 Points

Thanks to somebody's high point score (insert graemlin with arms folded across chest, peevishly tapping one foot), this wine vanished from the shelves here in Ottawa before I was able to buy more.....