I know this wine well. in fact very well as I have a whole bunch of it in my cellar.
It is generally one of the best made Argentinian values around, and at this price it is an absolute steal. For those that don’t know, Masi is one of the finest Italian producers, and they have brought their expertise to Argentina and are producing some of their best wines there now. Just don;t tell the Italians.
http://www.woot.com/Images/LabRat.jpg
First time LabRat. Was pleasantly surprised to get package in mail on Thursday.
Popped and poured with 2 friends Friday afternoon and decided to go with the Robert Parker point scale on the tasting. Brought wine home for wife to try later in evening.
So here goes:
Base Wine gets 50 points to start
Color and Appearance gets max of 5 points:
First reaction was that color seemed a little light for a malbec. Although we’re all not novice wine drinkers, we couldn’t remember ever having a Corvina…and that’s 30% of this blend…our scores were either 3 or 4.
Aroma/Bouquet gets a max of 15 points:
At first I got a little leather and dried cherries on the nose but that seemed to dissipate over time. Reactions on aroma were not bad but not great…the words normal and average popped up…our scores were either 9 or 10.
Flavor/Finish gets a max of 20 points:
ok…here’s the big category…for flavor we got (after some time) a little violets and blueberries…not much on the mid-palate…and not very malbec-ish at all…which makes some sense since the description seems to make this an Argentine version of a Ripasso-type wine…the finish was “rough” “metallic” with “a little sulfur”. This started to even out a bit as 4 hours later when wife tried it, the finish was a lot smoother. Our scores were all 10s.
Overall Quality and Aging Potential gets max of 10 points:
This wine is very reminiscent of a typical table wine. It wasn’t bad…and it wasn’t great…not sure there’s any aging potential at all. This wine is ready to drink now (and now that i see the price point for Woot…it’s definately a drink now wine). we gave this 4 points.
So taking the high scores from everyone we came up with a 78 and i think the Parker description is right on for this wine:
“70 - 79:
An average wine with little distinction except that it is a soundly made. In essence, a straightforward, innocuous wine.”
JJHACamp
Wow. This is the very first wine deal, that I can recall anyway, that doesn’t ship to New York.
And I was about to order two… 
Actually I don’t think any of these new Saturday “international” deals were available to us New Yorkers
To Woot staff, Why have an offer that is only available to about one-third of the country?
Is there something quirky about Argentinian wine that requires stricter legislation?
[labrat]
Lab Rat review:
Passo Doble2009 Malbec.
I assume I am a “B” list Lab Rat. The wine arrived today and I have to review it for tomorrow. This may be the best job I’ve ever had.
Just as a point of reference I am a blue collar guy who enjoys a good glass of wine. I am partial to Californian reds mostly Cabs. I’m not impressed by the price of the wine more if I enjoyed it or not. My wife is out of town and my wine drinking buddy has a surprise party so with no advanced notice here goes.
I opened the bottle and immediately noticed the aroma was not very pleasant a little musty
I poured two small tastings, the second I poured through my Venturi (which I recommend to anyone). The first sip was very harsh to be polite. The Venturi glass seemed much smoother but still had to grind my teeth after the swallow; it’s bitter, but also soft to moderate tannins. I decided to cook dinner for myself and the kids while it opened.
Forty minutes later it’s a completely different wine. I can say the aroma is much more pleasant and the wine is smoother. As for berries and cherries I have no idea. It just became a smoother wine to taste. Clearly not a cab but let’s have a second tasting.
Dinner is complete and Shazam……the wine opened.
It’s been two hours since I corked the bottle and two completely different wines. When opened it was not very enjoyable, (I am being polite here). Now it’s become a smooth quite enjoyable wine.
As I stated I’m a Californian Cab man, I stick with what I like and wines can vary so much in price it’s hard to stray. Woot allows me to experiment from time to time. I don’t know the price point on this wine but if Woot offers it around $10-$12 it s worth trying something new. Not being a sommelier but having killed a few grapes in my time let this one decanter before serving you will happy you did.
Cheers!
Anyone know how to add the Lab Rat Pic to my above post?
It seems my comments are in line with the other Lab Rats.
This wine needs time to open.
[From Thunderthighs: Done! Just add [ labrat ] with no spaces at the top of your post.]
Once again an non American wine and it isn’t available for Texas. Tried to buy the Spain one and now this one. What gives???
Thought it might be decent for the price if Wine Spectator gives it an 88 too.
First time I’ve seen no shipping to Louisiana. Guess I just saved ~$70
Click on the formatting guide link that you see when you try to reply…i used the www.winewoot.com/labrat.jpg as the link
[labrat]
LAB RAT REPORT:
PASSO DOBLE MASI TUPUNGATO 2009 MENDOZA MALBEC
A very nice honor to receive my second Lab Rat assignment. My first review was in 2007 for the Calistoga CS offer, before Cheron was packing the reports. I have tried and enjoyed many Mendoza Malbecs (Norton, Colome, BenMarco, Trapiche, Catena Alta, Pulenta, etc.) and was excited about the opportunity to try this offering.
As others have noted, this wine is 70% Malbec and 30% Corvina, a grape that was not part of the Malbecs I have tried-usually, other Malbec blends I have had are with other Bourdeaux varietals. The addition of Corvina here differentiates this wine from a “typical” Malbec.
The Masi was poured into a Reidel Bourdeaux glass and paired with a spagetti with meatball casserole. The color was a reddish violet, not as purplish or dark as other Malbecs. On the nose was red fruit and some briar. The flavor was a bit disjointed and rough with more red fruit dominating and not much compleixty. using the Vinturi assisted in bringing both the nose and palate into more integration and allowed the underlying aromas and flavor to develop. At that point, more cedar, plum and tar was detected and there was more balance. The relatively low alcholol and the pH level in addition to the Corvina allow this wine to pair nicely with more Italian-based dishes (as opposed to a big, flavorful grilled ribeye).
Over time and post-meal, the wine held together for a while and the finish was smoother than initially-although not that long. More plum, cinammon, tobacco and sour & black cherry were now prevelent.
For people new to Malbec, I would suggest buying several different Mendoza wineries with either as a single varietal or a more traditional blend as well as this Masi so you can experience the different profiles. This particular wine is a bit different than a standard Malbec-not a bad thing at all, just another style.
As the offer does not come to my state, I cannot purchase the offer (interesting I could get the Lab Rat sample, WD-probably because it was coming from Woot not the winery). The QPR is in line but my own prefence is to generally not overload on any particular wine/winery. For those experienced Malbec people, this wine affords a unique twist.
Cheers!
Me hago eco de los sentimientos…especially on a weekend where we’re all just lying in wait for a good deal to jump on?
woot lover trying to be a wine.woot lover but I so often see low scores for your wines on Cellar Tracker - for instance:
No Vermont?
First off, take CT for what it is. A bunch of random tastes’ opinions. Unless you follow specific tasters (like many of us do here) whose palates you know and understand, it’s really kind of pointless.
Second, “so often”? I say, “Nay!” to your hyperbole.
Third, I’m passing. Paso trip next weekend. :happy:
I agree. My son works in a rather upscale restaurant with a busy bar business, and have enjoyed Masi many times there (though not this particular selection).
What?! No shipping to Colorado?!
