Shouldn't a "fruit bomb" of a wine have a little "bang" to accompany it? I think so; therefore, the headline!
If you go to wine shops or better supermarkets it's hard to imagine that you haven't seen Layer Cake wines. Layer Cake Syrah seems to be everywhere. Recently, I recieved a tasting sample (freebie!) of 2008 Layer Cake Malbec. I popped that open to have with a piece of roasted pork.
The Layer Cake line of wines come from Jayson Woodbridge. Unless you're a real wino you might not know the name. Let's just say he makes wines grown in some of the great wine regions of the world. He also makes a high-end Napa Valley Cabernet that starts at $250 a bottle and sells out as soon as it's released.
Fortunately, Layer Cake is his effort to bring great wine to the value wine market. They make their wines, bottle them, and ship them from the country of origin. The Malbec was grown and made in the Mendoza Valley of Argentina.
Oh, back to the fruit bomb issue. Sometimes wine snobs will look down their nose and call a wine like this "jammy" or a fruit bomb. Well, this is one darn fruity wine but what's wrong with that?
Woodbridge clearly follows the modern trend of crafting wines for a younger market by aging 80 percent of the Malbec in stainless steel and 20 percent in barrels. As you would then expect, this is a very smooth Malbec with very palatable tannins.
I liked the wine for what it was - a spicy nose with some pepper and black fruit. It's rather high in alcohol at 14.2 percent.
This is good juice. It's easy to drink and very fruit forward but very true to the Malbec grape.
Woodbridge is an interseting guy. Here is a story from Departures Magazine.
This wine consistently sells for around $15. You'll find some Malbecs better suited to your invididual taste, but Layer Cake is one most are going to like. Also, I'd recommend it as a first Malbec if you haven't enjoyed the great South American grape previously.
Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com
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