For some reason, when it comes time for vacation, many of my normal way of doing things get thrown out the window.  Weekday or not, I’ll enjoy my first drink at breakfast, and I’ll order both an appetizer and dessert with dinner.  Usually, these changes in my habits are some sort of splurge or self-indulgence.  The problem comes when I change my routine and give into the call of the fun wine labels.  It happens on almost every vacation.  It’s how I ended up with the 2008 Tahoe Cabernet Sauvignon while we were in Tahoe and the 2007 Starborough Sauvignon Blanc while we were at the beach (who could resist the starfish label at the beach?).  In both those instances, I lucked out and the wines were decent.  The problem is that unlike beer, where it’s much easier to say “I want a certain style of beer” (an IPA for example), look at the IPA section for a bottle with an intriguing label, and finding a delicious beer, the chances of finding a good wine when only looking at the “fun label” isn’t very good.  Still, I don’t seem to learn my lesson.  I go on vacation and feel the pull of wanting something that looks fun and adventurous, something different from what I would normally drink.  And, end up with this…

The 2011 Vinaceous Voodoo Moon Malbec (winery) is from the Willyabrup sub-region of Margaret River, Australia.  The wine was an almost incandescent, deep purple.  On the nose, there were blackberries, black cherry cola, tobacco, and earth.  In the mouth, there were tart cherries.  The wine had a light-to medium body and tannins.

Is this worth a glass after work? Eh…if you have a bottle on hand, drink it, but I wouldn’t go searching it out either.   At $20, this wine this wine was a disappointment.  From the nose, it held a lot of promise.  In fact, I thought it was going to be amazing.  Sadly, when I actually tasted it, it was all acid and tartness.  I tried pairing it with the steaks hubby grilled on the dinner, but that didn’t help.  I tried pairing it with some fancy chocolate that I bought, thinking that it might bring out other characteristics in the wine, but it didn’t.  I tried enjoying it on the deck with a view of the ocean and my book, but that didn’t help either. In the end, I ended up switching to another bottle because vacation is way too short to spend it drinking wine that isn’t working for me, even if the label was a lot of fun.

Question of the Day:  How often do you buy wine based on the label?  Do you find yourself making label-based decisions more with beer?

Price: $20
Purchased at Tommy’s Gourmet Market and Wine Emporium
Overall: 2 Corks