This week’s second wine, a 2005 Celler de Capcanes Mas Donis Barrica, comes from the Montsant Denominación de Origen (DO) in Spain’s southwest. This region was previously known as a subzone of Tarragona but was made into its own DO in the early 2000s, and its wines have been labeled as Montsant rather than Tarragona since 2002. The Montsant DO almost completely surrounds the more famous Priorat DOQ (I’ll be tasting one of those next…), and, like Priorat, Montsant is more famous for its big red wines. Montsant’s authorized red grape varieites include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cariñena, Garnacha, Garnacha Peluda, Merlot, Monastrell, Picapoll Nera, Syrah and Tempranillo.
The 2005 Celler de Capcanes Mas Donis Barrica is a blend of 85% old vine Garnacha and 15% old vine Syrah. The use of fruit from old vines tends to produce more concentrated flavors because as grape vines age, they produce smaller crops, concentrating the natural flavors and sugars into less fruit. The life span of a grape vine is about 120 years, and the Garnacha and Syrah used in this wine come from vines that are over 80 years old and over 30 years old, respectively. The wine also spent 8 months in French and American oak before being bottled without being filtered. In other words, the winemakers at Celler de Capcanes wanted a big, bold red wine, and they certainly got it.
With big notes of ripe, dark berries, licorice and spice, this wine is quite the flavor bomb. These flavors explode on the palate and fill the entire mouth with rich dark fruit and spice. While I didn’t much care for it on its own, the big flavors actually improved (and were mellowed out a bit) when I paired it with my dinner – a Mediterranean-style salad of baby greens, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, roasted garlic, balsamic onions, goat cheese and warm orzo pasta.
In short, if you’re looking for a big red wine with lots of concentrated flavors, give this one a try. You can find it at wine.com for $11.99/bottle.
3 corks popped…
