Chocolate, cherry, and raspberry on the nose. Cocoa and tart berry pie flavors and tight, tannic mouthfeel. This is a big beast of a wine. Gorgeous and effervescent (figuratively, not literally). Musty leather and tobacco come together with muscular tannins to make a full body that’s better when slightly warmer than I normally drink a red – right at 70-72 Fahrenheit. Goes great with just about anything, but particularly robust and rich Spanish hams or paella. I picked this one up at Astor in SoHo NYC for around $20-24, and will do so again.
- Rating: Impressive
- Name: Menut 2013
- Winery: Clos Martinet
- Region: Priorat
- Country: Spain
- Varietals: Grenache and Merlot
- Price: $20-$24
- Where to Buy: Astor Wines & Spirits*, 399 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10003
*The 2013 isn’t available online, but the 2014 can be purchased via this link.
A powerful nose of baked berry pie, leather, crushed flowers with a hint of jasmine at the end. Some strawberry notes develop as it sits open in the decanter. A really amazing bouquet worth lingering on. Chewy leather, cocoa, and dark red fruit at the front end with a powerful, typically Catalan, tannic finish with stone and slate. This is a fascinating and powerful expression of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. About 30-45 minutes after decanting the nose shifted to a strong maple note – sheer stunner. Truly a roller-coaster; it opens, concentrates, opens again. A deep black garnet color. Cherry popsicle near the end. Yes, I said cherry popsicle. Melted. Cherry. Popsicle. I picked this up in Barcelona on Patricia’s recommendation. Damn glad I did. Wine Searcher can’t seem to find a bottle in the U.S.
Dark cherry, cassis, and white pepper notes on the nose right out of the bottle. Rich, bold leather and balsamic notes, some creamy vanilla flavors on the front end with tight tannins bringing up the rear shutting it all down just before you get bowled over. This has been one of my favorites for a few years now and I’m working my way through the final few bottles of a case I’ve been nursing. An hour after the cork pops and after some of the 15% alcohol burns off it opens a bit further, the tannins combine with a creamy cocoa note and chewy leather. The nose takes on a faint greenness, like crushed flowers. It’s more common to run into this wine’s cousins by Fabre Montmayou – the Mendoza Malbecs are nice, but can’t quite keep up with this Rio Negro, Patagonia Cab. I believe this ran around $20-25/ bottle when I bought it. Attempts to find it in the myriad, noisy online wine resources (ya know, the reason why I started this blog in the first place) ran on several later vintages hovering in the $16/ bottle range.
Big vanilla chocolate raspberry cinnamon punch in the mouth. Sound jammy? Nope. Got the tannins to collect it all up nicely at the end of the palate. The mouth punch gives way later to familiar dark tarry notes of rubber, blackberry jam, and slate that Nero is known for. A nice, stubborn wine that gets a foothold on the palate. Believe I picked this one up at Schneider’s on the Hill for around $25.
I received this estate-bottled wine as a gift. The vineyard is in the family of a work colleague. I’m not a big chardonnay fan, but have to admit this was a nice, balanced wine. The nose has interesting notes of pineapple and vanilla with a faint slate mineral note. A straw color typical of the varietal, the wine was quite balanced in spite of that initial pineapple cake advertisement. I’m not sure how much this goes for by the bottle or where to find it, but I’d say a chardonnay lover should be willing to spring for it at $45 and below.
Roses, cherries, and cotton candy on the nose, right after the cork pops. This one attacks the palate with powerful Catalan characteristics of leather, barely ripe plum, faint cocoa, some herbal grass notes. A musty, dank autumn forest feel marries well with the characteristic Catalan “fuerte” tannin. As it opens up the nose shifts to toasted marshmallows, cedar, and very faint mulling spice in a nice blended harmony. Dark cherries, milk chocolate, and leather meld with roses, all shorn up with a hit of hard, Catalan tannin. This is a fine wine, as Hemingway would say. I picked this one up in Spain, either San Sebastian or Barcelona (can’t recall), but bumped into it again at a tasting in TriBeCA. No idea what price, but below $40.
Posto Novo 