I was a little suspicious from the get go with this wine.  I didn’t know anything about the producer (and still don’t) and the price seemed too good to be true.  The website listing on the label, silvertopwine.com doesn’t appear to exist anymore.  And the importer, Prestige Wine Group, doesn’t list this wine on their website.  At least both of those facts are true at the time I’m writing this, who knows if it will change.

While I had my suspicions, I still bought a bottle.  While I wasn’t as turned off by this wine as I thought I would be, it still wasn’t great.

There’s nothing objectionable about this wine, there’s just nothing special about it.  If I were blind tasting and trying to guess the variety, it would take me a lot of guesses before I would get to Malbec.  It’s not very characteristic of a Malbec… maybe a Cotes du Rhone blend, and a mediocre one at that.  I guess it’s mostly just not as big as I expect from a Malbec.  The nose is tight (i.e. the aromas are faint), but it has some subtle cherry and tobacco aromas.  The palate is also very light and with little more than plum and berry flavors, lacks complexity.  It’s a pleasant and drinkable wine, but not very complex, intense or interesting.

Wine: Silvertop
Variety: Malbec
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 81
Price: $7.99

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