Easy drinking leads to lots of drinking

This Zamba Malbec is a beaut of a Mendoza. Malbec's are this years spunky blond everyone wants one or knows of a great one long gone. California has embraced this grape with both arms open and over the next few years we'll see quite a few stunning malbecs from Napa.

This Zamba followed an entire bottle of an old favorite and despite my drunken nature I was able to taste this bottle quite well. I just wanted a taste of this sunny wine and when it hit my mouth it was everything I wanted. Clear and bright with high notes and spice holding on strong. It was the perfect late night bottle, and I'm not to ashamed to admit a little guzzling happened. It reminded me of what Spanish wines go for. Conch y Toro hold on to your butt you've been beaten at your own game.

A sober taste reveled a dense plush wine the vineyards call "fruit-forward." Cab Sav's over whelming its fruits with tannins, or a mild mannered merlot baked in the sun all get that lovely phrase slapped on like so much extra cheese on your Big Mac. This solid wine has way more going for it than than that worn marketing-friendly phrase implies. It reminded me of hot dry day filled with earthy dusty smells and spicy food about to be enjoyed. Its definitely getting on my regular buy list. Did the wine appeal to me more when I was well into a buzz? Perhaps, but who cares! Every wine gets drunk somehow somewhere and all of those factors help or hinder the experience. In this case I found a wine well suited to a drunken night of fun.

Want to kick your heels up and drink some fancy wine?

Rainy weather didn't dampen the wino's here in Ski Town USA we boozed it up in fine spirits courtesy of the annual Steamboat Springs Wine Festival In addition to all the fabulous wineries attending Stella Artois and Skyy Spirits were there serving their brand of joy. The wineries really pulled out the all of the stops and served some of their best wines.

Want to taste many different wines in one evening from all over the globe? Want to search out the newest wine trends and talk grapes with vinyard owners? Wine festivals are where its at! For the price of a ticket you can taste as much as you can ask for in a night.

Knowing who serves up expensive wines at these festivals is key, because some vinyards cheap out with bargin bin wines. I have a lot of respect for the vinyards that serve their wines for probably pennies on the dollar to get access to a wine loving crowd. Heres the list from Steamboat about who gave up the best wines.

Penfolds, who always comes through with great wines at festivals had their Hyman and their Bin 138. In previous festivals I've tasted some rare bottles from Penfolds and if you see their table be sure to stop by and chat up the server.

Lodi Vineyards was also present and they really served up some fabulous wines most notable are the Sloth Zin and the Petite Petite. If you can buy a bottle of either of these you will be very pleased, full and strong these wines will be a fall treat that stand out.

The Trapiche Winery made a trek from Mendoza to steamboat this year to show us their Malbecs. Napa has been moving towards Malbecs this year and over the next few years I predict we'll see a lot more of them. But the Mendozas are still strong as they've been making Malbecs for decades. These didn't disappoint either, I recommend their 2008 for a great bottle under 10$. They were serving their Oak Cast but I am so beyond oaked wine I couldn't taste anything but the oak. Still the hearty Cab lovers out there might like those tannins.