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A Wine Lover's Weekly Guide To $10 Wines - Fuzion, An Argentinian Red Blend

By Levi Reiss

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Published: 01Sep2009
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In an article entitled "A bang for your $7.45 - Fuzion fires a frenzy at the LCBO," Rod Phillips, wine writer for the Ottawa Citizen recently wrote: "A colleague told me last week he'd been in a "near-riot" at the main LCBO store at Rideau and King Edward. Noticing a commotion in one of the aisles, he found customers jostling to get their hands on bottles of Fuzion, the Argentinian shiraz-malbec blend recently added to the LCBO's list. He managed to grab two bottles." We'll see if this wine is worth fighting for.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed fuZion Shiraz-Malbec 2007 Argentina 13.5% alcohol about $7

Usually I start an article by quoting the Liquor Board's marketing materials. Interestingly enough, here there aren't any. So I'll quote the back label, my own translation from the French. [I think this wine was so popular that the Ontario commission brought in bottles from neighboring Quebec, hence the French.] Origin: Mendoza, Argentina Food Pairing Suggestions: Barbecued meat, pasta, and sharp cheeses. Tasting Notes: Intense violet color. Prune and black cherry aromas. Silky wine, moderately full-bodied, fairly concentrated with a long finish.

The label then goes on to tell you about the producers, the Zuccardi family in Argentina.

As per our quoted introduction, this wine really created a sensation in our neck of the woods. A major wine writer compared it favorably to $20 bottles and for a while you couldn't find it. I made sure not to read the reviews so as not to be influenced. To get my hands on a bottle I had to go to a never before visited outlet. I asked the cashier what she thought of it but she hadn't tasted it. Then I went to the wine store cited above and purchased five other bottles for this series. I asked the guy at the information desk for his opinion. His answer, "What do you expect for $7.45?". And now for my thoughts.

The first meal was a Middle-Eastern specialty, ground meat in ground bulgar and semolina jackets with a somewhat spicy tomato sauce. The fuZion was very pedestrian and quite short. I did taste some cherries. The smell bordered on the unpleasant. I tried it with homemade apple cake. In response the wine became flat. The finishing touch was a rather tasty fruit juice candy that simply overpowered this liquid. So far so bad. I do have the idea that by letting the wine breathe it might improve.

The second meal should have been a fine pairing. It consisted of Pot Roast to which I added Harissa, a Tunisian fiery pepper sauce and soft wheat kernels with carrots. I poured the wine into a wide glass well before consuming it. This was not a very successful pairing. The wine remained short and harsh. It wasn't at all round and didn't have much taste. It definitely wasn't worth a near riot.

I tasted this wine with two local cheeses; a yellow Cheddar and a white Munster. With the first cheese the wine had a pale taste. It was sort of grapey. The fuZion actually perked up with the Munster. It wasn't bad. So maybe this wine could be served at a wine and cheese party, especially one on a low budget with low expectations. I snuck in a final tasting with a cherry strudel. For the first time the wine took on some acidity but it was weak. Just in case you don't know my policy, I never blame a wine for weird food pairings that don't work, like this last trial. But I do blame it for food pairings that should have worked.

So I won't be driving all over the place trying to scrounge some bottles. In fact, I won't be finishing this one.

Levi Reiss authored or co-authored ten computers and Internet books, but prefers drinking fine Italian, or other wine with the right foods and people. He teaches computers at an Ontario French-language community college. His global wine website www.theworldwidewine.com features a weekly review of $10 wines and new sections writing about and tasting organic and kosher wines. Visit his Italian travel website www.travelitalytravel.com.

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