Bill Hogsett > wrote in
. 142:


> cost $48 at the restaurant.
>
> Friday--Lamb chops, roasted potatoes and asparagus. As we cooked, I
> opened an Argenta Malbec that someone had brought to our Christmas
> party. I found nothing to like about it. No fruit, dull taste and
> alcohol vapors. I gave it to my wife, she said "yecch" so we ditched
> it. I am not sure I have ever identitied a TCA contaminated bottle,
> and don't think this one was. It was just mediocre wine. So, I give
> it a D. Wonder who foisted it off on us?
>
> After the disaster, I opened an 02 Terrazas de los Andes Malbec that
> Wine Spectator had put in its top 100 wines of 2004. I had 4 bottles
> in the cellar. Here was a chance to compare 2 Malbecs and see if it
> is the style of the wine or the difference in the wineries. The
> Terrazas was night and day different. It had a chewy taste with nice
> spices. For $13.95 this is my favorite wine of the week--so far. B+
> (still not very sure of how I am going to grade).
>

This sounds like possible TCA- did the first wine have a musty wet
cardboard taste? It doesn't always come out that way to me, the first thing
I notice is the lacking- no fruit dull taste are good signs of a bad
situation. Even poor (cheap)wine will usually show some varietal character
(think about the $6 cabs that they taste at the supermarket, one can
usually at least know that the wine is meant to be cabernet s even if it
isn't a great one), when varietal character is missing, something is wrong
and corked bottle is a likely contender.