Wine Review

Wine Review: Acústic Negre 2013

Acustic 2013

When it comes to value for money in Spanish wine, you can actually choose at random and have a good to fair chance of coming out with something nice. However, one area in particular in the province of Catalunya is routinely delivering over and beyond it’s price point; DO Montsant. Snaking around the exterior of it’s ‘Bigger brother’ Priorat, Montsant offers powerful, expressive but still refreshing wines without breaking your wallet.

At the last count there were scarcely 70 wineries in the area, ranging from large co-operatives, which are quite dominant, to smaller, boutique wineries. Despite lower levels of production, wines are still fairly priced from the smaller wineries and offer a decent amount of variation across the region. The wine I decided to review today is an old favourite; Acústic Negre 2013. The first vintages for these wines was 2004, from old vineyards that had been purchased from the region by Albert Jane Ubeda, brother of Gerard from the Jane Ventura winery in Penedes. At 12-13 euros a bottle, this is a good quality, powerful, spicy wine that is very typical of the region and available in most good wine stores, despite the small production (100,000 bottles across the whole range).

Acústic Negre 2013

Carignan/Grenache blend (exact quantities not given).

Aged for 10 months in lightly toasted French barrels.

Old vines: 35-65 years of age.

Appearance: The wine is very dark with purple tinges at the rim. As far as Montsant goes, this is usually a pretty good indicator of a large quantity of Carignan in the wine as Grenache is a lot lighter in colour.

Nose: Quite expressive here, with the first impression being ‘Smoky’. There’s a decent amount of ripe dark fruits, white pepper and a touch of bitter, dark chocolate that I absolutely love. A really earthy, spicy sort of wine.

Palate: Dry and full bodied, with the same savoury flavour profile and a nice, smooth tasting experience. Drinking this at 12pm in July in Barcelona is a little out-of-place but this is an outstanding go-to wine for the Autumn and Winter months!

Conclusion: For 12 euros a bottle, sign me up. A really pleasant, powerful wine with a decent amount going on and importantly, well balanced. When alcohol levels start to reach 14.5% upwards, you always run the risk of having a hot, sluggish wine but this is in check (at a whopping 15%!). A good Montsant red, and more than enough to make me interested in trying the two higher-level bottlings of Braó and Auditori above it.

Score: 3/5

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