Montsant Red 2020

Nestled in a mountainous corner of northeastern Spain, Montsant has long been in the shadow of its bigger brother, the neighboring Priorat wine region, which is known for its powerful red wines. Thanks to local winemakers like Albert Jané , the region is finally getting the recognition it deserves for its supple, intensely flavored red wines that offer excellent value for money. Acústic Montsant is a traditional blend of the ancestral Carignan and Grenache grape varieties that he carefully harvests by hand from vines aged 35 to 65 years old. After vinification with native yeasts , Albert ages the wine in French oak barrels (already used 1 to 2 times) for 10 months and does not do any filtration to preserve the expressiveness of the wine. The result of his efforts is a deliciously sweet red wine, with seductive aromas of red berries , cherries , blackberries, blueberries and plums finishing with a woody and chocolatey touch. On the palate, the velvety tannins , the creamy texture and the generous fruit aromas are well balanced by a refreshing acidity.

The history of wine in Spain is so old that no one really knows who brought the first vines to the region. When the Phoenicians arrived some 3,000 years ago and founded the present-day cities of Cádiz and Jerez, viticulture was well established and Spanish wines were widely marketed throughout the Mediterranean and North Africa. You could say that Spain is a wine miracle. After years spent away from the world of fine wines, she is today a major player. Investment and ambition in the vineyards and cellars results in increasingly rich and complex (often very alcoholic) and spicy reds which are increasingly appreciated by international consumers. Proud to have more land devoted to vines than any other country, Spain is only beginning to capitalize on this resource consistently. Spain is an anarchic tangle of regions and sub-regions, just as its landscape is an anarchic tangle of incredibly raw landscapes. A glance at a map reveals the climatic diversity among Spain's many wine regions, from the soggy green vineyards of Galicia on the northern Atlantic coast to the toasty vineyards of southeastern the Mediterranean. Spain's saving grace, in terms of viticulture, is the average altitude of its vineyards, above 600 meters. A large part of Spanish vineyards therefore manage to produce grapes of good color and acidity simply because night temperatures are relatively low and the grapes do not ripen until the end of a sufficiently long growing period. But there is real treasure to be found for those willing to dig and, now that a class of connoisseurs has developed in Spain, all manner of ambitious investors have done their part to change the image of Spanish wine . Today, a new generation of winemakers has quietly begun making spectacular wines and experimenting with grape varieties that would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. Wine remains an important commodity and is an integral part of Spanish culture.