El Bolsón Rubia, Rio Negro – the color of over-ripe pineapple. Aromas and flavors of under-ripe peaches, a touch of bitterness, fairly one-note.

El Bolsón con Frambuesa, Rio Negro – I missed the “con”, or “with” and was thinking this was a raspberry lambic. As a guess, it’s not. It’s a fairly light beer that’s simply been dowsed with what tastes like raspberry and brown sugar, likely after fermentation. The color is murky red-brown with particulate matter – probably raspberry pulp, floating about, and there’s really no aroma or flavor beyond cloyingly sweet fruit.

El Bolsón Negra Ahumada, Rio Negro – cola brown. Nice and smoky, almost like bacon fat, though that pretty much covers over any other flavors; a bit of ripe apple hidden away underneath. Like the Rubia above, it’s pretty monotone.

El Bolsón Negra Extra, Rio Negro – cloudy root beer brown color; crisp green apple and bitter cocoa on the palate, overall well balanced but not particularly complex.

Saint Felicien Chardonnay 2006, Mendoza – oak fermented; beautiful medium yellow color; tropical notes – guava, papaya, fresh coconut, hint of wet stone on the nose; medium to full bodied, moderate acidity, touch of dry wood tannins, well balanced, medium length finish, mostly oak. Not bad, comes across much like a “classic” California style Chardonnay, though for only about 40 pesos on the shelf.

Masi Tupungato Passo Doble 2007, Mendoza – 65% Malbec, 30% semi-dried Corvina, 5% Merlot, made in ripasso style – quite different from the 2006, with cherry, menthol and cinnamon notes upfront, a good dose of smokiness, slightly higher acidity with a nice “juiciness” to it, soft tannins, moderate alcohol (slightly lower than the 2006, 13.5% vs. 13.7%), and a long, but not quite as long, finish.

Alta Vista Atemporal 2007, Mendoza – 43% Malbec, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Syrah, 10% Petit Verdot; fermented in concrete tanks, matured separately for 12 months in French oak, then blended – dark purple red color, nearly opaque; blackberry, blue plum, green leaves, dark chocolate and caramel notes on the nose; full bodied, fruit forward, soft tannins, juicy acidity, well integrated oak, long finish of peppered caramel.

García Riccardi Vino Casero 2006, Mendoza – I would basically repeat my thoughts on the 2005, I find virtually identical character – in fact, my notes on the two are almost word for word identical, despite tasting them nearly two months apart. Noted that the “Porto Andino” labeling has been dropped and it now simply says “Vino Casero” – an inquiry to the distributor revealed that because they’ve started to export they’ve been forced to drop the term “Porto” as it’s a reserved name for wines produced in Oporto, Portugal.