94WA

$22.99 on 6+ (code: 6saves2)
$24.99 SALE
$29.99 reg

My Tasting Note: Medium ruby, purple flecks no doubt from the garnacha. The nose is med/med+ with fresh primary and crushed stone notes. A youthful, exuberant nose and palate are very fresh are spiked with floral, savory and spicy notes. Crushed red berries, cherry, and currants mix with a touch of licorice, lavender florals, and mixed spices, all seemingly mashed together over crushed rocks. The palate is medium bodied, fresh and just leaning nicely into med+ acidity. Med+ finish, a very fresh and stony red here - for the rockheads!

94 pts Wine Advocate
The granite soils from Montsant used for the 2021 Dido accentuates more the effect of the years, so this 2021 is sharp, austere and reductive, with a paler color. It has moderate ripeness and 12.8% alcohol, a nuanced and subtle nose with herbal and floral notes, a spicy pinch and a medium-bodied palate with some grainy tannins with a chalky texture. They play a lot with concrete, with about 40% of the volume, and the rest is in oak containers of different sizes, from 300- to 4,000-liter ones. This is a serious, mineral red that transcends its price point. 101,892 bottles and some larger formats were produced. It was bottled between December 2020 and January 2021.

Venus La Universal is the project from Sara Pérez and René Barbier in Montsant, where they work with nine hectares of their own vineyards plus 35 hectares from 14 growers, all certified organic and exclusively with those grapes (they don't buy other grapes). They produce 160,000 bottles. Since 2021, they have been renting the La Figuera cooperative, and the wine (Sindicat La Figuera) from there is now part of the Venus portfolio. Taking advantage of the facilities from La Figuera, they are doing other side projects (mostly without appellation), such as a Trepat, a wine with flor, perhaps a Cabernet... These Orbita Venus (Venus orbit), the things that are around Venus, will come in the future...

After a very rainy and unusual 2020 (770 liters of rain!), a very challenging year with lots of mildew, 2021 was marked by a snowstorm in January and was a cooler season with generous rain that delivered a crop for lighter wines with tension and contained alcohol. 2022 was warm and dry (only 350 liters of rain) and had multiple heat waves from May. They compared 2022 to 2015 (or 2009), a powerful year, but with less rain, both with good water reserves from the previous vintage and a great development of the plants, which were not stressed. The stress arrived in 2023. They like dry years that come with "wet feet," i.e., with water from the previous vintage. The wines are superb and feel more elegant than ever.

This is a tribute to the youth, tenacity, and their love for Garnatxa. The wine, from the plots of Falset, exhibits a delicious fruit and grows in concrete tanks to hold an extraordinary freshness and purity. Garnatxa coming from gravel is an explosive fruit expression and turn a deep dark contrast due to day versus night temperature.
Grapes: Garnatxa 70%, Syrah 20%, Carinyena /Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon 10%
Vineyard: This wine comes from a plot of 10 hectares of degraded granite land called gravel. The sandy gravel structure and graceful texture changes temperature rapidly depending on the climate. It heats during the day and cools at night, allowing the grapes a good and long maturation.
Vinification: Very hands off, several weeks macerations in concrete, longer for the garnacha.
Maturation: 40% of the wine aged for 14/16 months in different wood barrels from 300L up to 4000L and the remaining 60% in concrete tank to emphasize the fruit.