I am a card-carrying member of the “wine faults can be interesting” club. I’m not put off by a bit of volatile acidity or brett. But there are limits. And this wine crosses the line with volatile acidity.
The nose on this Garnacha-dominated wine is promising. Black cherry and licorice aromas are pleasant enough. And a forceful balsamic note is a nice complement to the raw wood aroma that otherwise would be too prominent.
But in the mouth, hard, sour acidity takes over and dominates from front to back. Juicy fruit and powdery tannins suggest there is a good wine here but they sing back up while the relentless, vinegar-like acid struts about the stage attracting all the attention. The acidity is so hard and unyielding that it doesn’t play well with the other components of the wine. Needless to say the finish is a dance of strangers.
I wouldn’t say the wine is undrinkable, especially with food, but it’s not worth the price. Could this be a bad bottle? Of course. But where there is one, there are likely many others. (The cork was in good shape with no sign of leakage so this is likely a production problem, not a storage problem)
Technical Notes: 70% Garnacha, 20% Cariñena and 10% Syrah, aged in second use French barrels for 8 months.
Score: 80
Price: $28
Alc: 14.5%
Exploring the Philosophy of Food and Wine 