I’m revisiting an old friend here. One of the more satisfying budget wines available, but it’s been a few vintages since I last wrote about this consistently good wine from the hot, dry deserts of northeastern Spain.
Lovely fruit profile on the nose for a budget wine, very ripe red and black fruits mingle against a figgy background, topped with chocolate and a layer of dust. There are some oak hints but they’re restrained.
The palate shows fig and blackberry, a medium body with an active, tense seam of minerality supported by plenty of acidity, boosting the top notes. The medium length finish is zesty, the tannins prickle but don’t grip. But their is some sourness at terminus from exposed acidity so the finish doesn’t quite satisfy. With ample fruit power but neither plush nor smooth, its lean, muscular frame combines toughness with polish, which holds together until the finish gives it up.
It’s stylish athleticism belongs on the dance floor with Daft Punk’s Get Lucky.
Score: 89
Price: $9
Alc: 14.5%
Exploring the Philosophy of Food and Wine 