ON THE NOSE:
Black currant fruit coupled with some black licorice, spice, sea-spray, and undercurrents of green vegetables and floral notes. This Malbec ultimately has a pleasant nose that does, however, take quite some time to persuade.
ON THE PALATE:
Nice attack on the mouth that relaxes into some soft tannins in the lower lip, but a bit overpowered by both the acidic sensations that resound in the mid-palate and the heat present from the alcohol, listed at what is nowadays a paltry 13.7%. This Malbec may indeed be a bit young still, so if you bought a case it may be interesting to drink a bottle every six months and take some notes. OR, perhaps, this is simply what this wine offers. The finish disappears almost immediately but then rebounds, if you will, with a metallic, mineral note that is not unpleasant but doesn’t make one eager for more. After having tasted a $10 Malbec at the counter that we felt would be a decent relative cheapie the La Posta 2005 Malbec was presented to us by our local merchant as “My favorite Malbec in the store.” We know this particular merchant to favor new-world fruit bombs over old-world funk, but Darcey and I swing both ways with ease, so we took the chance and the bottle and hurried home.
Ultimately we aren’t enthused tonight with this effort, and we lament not grabbing the $10-taster, as THAT was what made us want a Malbec tonight with its powerful firm tannins, balanced acidity, and complex fruit and spice! Yup, woulda-coulda-shoulda and an additional $7 on top of that. But hell, we’ll try anything once, and the education we receive from drinking different things is worth the price of the game, so all in all, we aren’t actually complaining. After quite some time – say, seven hours, and this from decanting, not simply from the bottle – this Malbec is showing us more elegance and grace than earlier, but even now it is unbalanced and lacks a quality finish. The fruit is more pronounced now, and the spice is complemented by sweet vanilla – the complexity has improved – but it has not salvaged its reputation enough to warrant a smile from either Darcey or me. C’est la vie, and such is the pastime of wine consumption. 86 points it shall be.
(Click here for an explanation of our ratings ...)
Our Rating: 86
Would we drink it again? 
Nope! I just can't see the 90-point ratings that these other folks give this wine! To me the 86-point rating is fair.
Would we buy it again?
Nope!
