Dry...

No posts for a month because, well, I've drunk NO wine for a month. Why, you might ask? If you want to lose weight and go on the wagon, go to Uganda. As you might guess, wine is not a staple over there. In fact, it is pretty hard to find outside of Kampala - you can get it in the fancier restaurants but it is usually terribly overpriced South African plonk (for example, an $8 - in Canada - bottle of Obikawa listed for over $40 at the Nile Safari resort). And I refuse to buy wine that is marked up like that. At least the beer there is good (especially Nile Special from Jinja). By the way, that picture above is in Africa - on Mount Stanley at 16,000 feet. This is the highest peak in the Rwenzori Mountains, the only glaciated true mountain range in Africa (also known as the Mountains of the Moon). If you're interested, check out: http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/212349/mt-stanley.html
Anyway, I digress. To ease my rusty palate back into action we cracked a few bottles of Malbec from Argentina. The Nieto Sentiner, Reserva, Malbec, 2005 is from Mendoza. Crushed violets on the nose, it is bright and acidic with fresh pomegranate fruit on the palate. Lively and medium bodied, it cut through a fatty steak easily. A good wine, worth the $14.
I tried the Bodegas del Fin del Mundo, Reserva, Malbec, Patagonia, 2004 last year and found it a dense brooding wine but the fruit was hiding. Well, the fruit has now come out to play - chunky black berries - this remains an intense, highly extracted wine for the price - a measly $13 a bottle. A good wine, and a steal. Buy it all. Cheers!!.