Worst. Wine. Ever.

Wine: Pigmentum Malbec 2006, Cahors, France

Paired with: Bacon-wrapped chicken breast & herbed potatoes.

Comments: Just in case you thought we liked everything, let me now prove you wrong. I'm pretty sure I'm exaggerating in calling it the worst wine ever, but holy cow, was this wine terrible. It was a spur of the moment purchase with a thought process that went something like this: "Hey, it's malbec from France. We like malbec. And it's on sale for $9 - let's get it!"

So, we had a clunker. The first sip was vaguely "eww," but the insane amount of fat in the bacon sort of  worked with the flavors, and we got through a glass or so with dinner. And by then we were used to it, so we poured another glass. By the end of the second glass, we decided we just couldn't take it any more. We didn't even finish the bottle.

Now, there is an off chance that we just had a bad bottle. But the chances are pretty low - the producer uses synthetic corks, which have a pretty low failure rate, and the wine didn't have the vinegary bite that we've typically encountered with corked wine.

So before you run for the hills if you see a French malbec, this is not to say that spur-of-the-moment purchases should be avoided, or even that all malbecs from France are awful. But take my word for it, this is one wine you can pass by.

Tasting Notes - pre-food: Sour with vaguely plummy notes. Absolutely no tannic structure, very thin.

Tasting Notes - with food: Surprisingly, thick-cut smoky bacon made this potable. I think the smoke from the bacon stomped on the sourness and managed to yank a few palatable notes out. Supposedly, malbecs from Cahors should taste like damsons (a type of plum), tobacco and raisins. Supposedly.

Color: Dark violet.

Price: around $9

Verdict: Never. Really. Skip it.