As I moved back to Spain this week, I was happily ready to try another Carignan. Knowing now that this was a wine I could pair with barbeque made me even happier! Living in Texas, barbeque is on the menu basically weekly and I am always happy to have a reason to eat more of it.
Knowing nothing about Cellar el Masroig, I began my research there. This winery started in 1917 and functions as a co-op of grape and olive growers for wine and olive oil. The winery claims that Carignan makes up the foundation of their wines and like the winery itself, gets better with age.
One color characteristic that seems to define the region for Cellar el Masroig is “red.” From the color of the soil to the sunsets, this color and what it means for the grapes defines the region. Grapes are grown in red clay dirt in a relatively dry climate and ripened by a sun that daily produces a profoundly red sunset for the area.*
This wine was from Monsant, Spain, and sampled on August 18, 2017. The scents of wood and black pepper wafted pleasantly upward from the glass as I listened to “Hold Back the River” by James Bay. The first taste brought forth a bold body and lots of fruitiness. The fruit tastes included darker fruits, like black plums, and purple grapes. It seemed pretty generic, like it was just another red wine. However, it was a nice compliment to the barbeque because of the rich fruit-forwardness.
I gave this wine a rating of 2.5. It was okay and that was it. There was nothing very exciting or note-worthy about it. It seemed like just another red wine that you could probably replace without noticing by a handful of others from a super market shelf.
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