*tasting note at the bottom

**Part of the ‘Spanish Value Experiment

DO Tarragona is a difficult wine region to explain, and I often struggle when it comes to the task. That’s not to say that wine isn’t produced here, just very little of the wine I’m personally interested in. What is now mostly DO Montsant used to be the heart of quality wine production, where the higher elevations help mitigate the hot, Mediterranean summers, and losing this has left DO Tarragona a little disjointed. A great deal of the land is currently used to produce Cava grapes that inevitably end up further up the coast in the Penedes region, whilst much of the rest is owned by larger co-operatives and one or two privately owned companies, such as De Muller. There’s still some very interested fortified wines made here, as well as some particularly characteristic rancio wines, but they tend to be niche interests.

Yet, there’s certainly the potential to make good quality wine here; warm, mainly dry growing seasons, predominantly limestone soils and access to Tarragona itself, an active port town no less. You’d expect one or two interesting enterprises to make themselves known in the coming years, so I was interested to pull this bottle out of the pile. Blau Mari 2016, a Garnacha/Cabernet Sauvignon blend made by Cellers 9+ but with all information on the label pointing to a distributor instead; a local private label? I’m not familiar with the producer, but on their site, they go to some lengths to talk about their minimal intervention style of wine-making, organic viticulture and general philosophy. All well and good, but how does it taste?

Tasting Note
60% Garnacha, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Xarel.lo for colour stabilisation. Organic viticulture and all fermentation takes place in stainless steel. No added sulphites, unfined and unfiltered. 13% ABV

Pale in colour, surprising when you consider the significant portion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend, and quite reduced on the nose. After a period of time in a decanter, this starts to open up displaying aromas of raspberries, cranberries, sappy herbs and a touch of white pepper. Much the same on the palate with barely discernible tannins, a light body and a pleasant red fruit and herb profile. Simple, fresh and easy. Certainly not a wine to catch anyones attention, but makes for a very reasonable lunch wine, providing you’re not put off by the initial reduction! Fairly priced. 85Pts

Purchased from Vinissimus for €6.30