Clos De Noi Vinyes Velles Negre Samso 2007 Montsant

Wow - that title is a mouthful isn't it? This old vine wine is made entirely from Samso which is the region of Montsant's local name for the native Spanish Carinena grape. Most of the rest of the world calls it Carignan. Regardless of what you call it, this grape is getting some good results in Spain in the northeastern regions of Montsant and Priorat.

This bottling from Clos de Noi has a dark purple color. On the nose you get a nice bouquet of plum, blackberry, and black cherry with just a touch of earthiness to go along with the fruit. In your mouth you get a smooth pleasant feel to the wine with flavors of blackberry as well as red and black raspberry. All of this leads to a decent but somewhat uninspiring finish. Overall, it is a nice wine.

At a price point in the under $15 range, this Montsant gives you decent value.

From a pairing standpoint you could go in a couple different directions. Pork tenderloin cooked medium rare worked rather nicely for me with this, but I would caution against pairing it with well done pork. I also thinks this would go very nicely with a big, juicy burger or some authentic, fresh chorizo sausage.