Tanguero Malbec

We taste a lot of different wines for this website and thanks to advances in the technology of winemaking over the past 20 years, we don’t come across a lot of total clunkers.  There are plenty of wines that aren’t great, plenty that could be better… but most wines we come across don’t have me taking the bottle to the sink to dump it.  However, every now and then we come across one that just doesn’t cut it.  This is one such example.

I came across the Tanguero Malbec at a local wine shop and for a mere $5 I figured it was worth a shot.

Tanguero has a strong barnyard aroma in the bouquet, along with dark cherry, chocolate and cedar.  I suspect the barnyard aroma is a result of brett.  Brett isn’t the winemaker’s name, it’s short for Brettanomyces, which is a type of yeast.  Sometimes it’s intentionally added to wines in small quantities to add complexity, but too much of it (or its unintentional presence) is considered a flaw.  It sometimes can be indicative of poor hygiene in the winemaking process, but of course I don’t know if that was the case here.

The palate is significantly off balance.  Strong acid and bitter tannins dominate this wine.   There is some fruit, cherry & blackberry, but it’s overwhelmed by the bitterness and acidity.  The finish is short and bitter as well.  While I love to find a $5 deal on wines, I can’t recommend this one.

Wine: Tanguero
Variety: Malbec
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 69
Price: $4.99