Usually we use this section to highlight whatever is filling our glass at the moment. Maybe it’s just a pleasant wine to drink or something we enjoyed quickly in passing. Rarely have we used this to really badmouth a wine. Well, that day has come.
Ca N’Estruc’s Negre 2011 needs to be mentioned as it often gets somewhat favorable reviews from some drinkers. That’s fine if they enjoy it, but we assume it has to be more for the retail price of 3.50€ than the overall flavor profile. You see, we can really only best describe it as having a flavor that is akin to drinking rainwater that’s been left sitting outside in a rusty bucket for a month. It’s unpleasant and it leaves a foul finish in the mouth that doesn’t blend well with food no matter how hard you try.
If it’s really just the price that people love, then we’d much more recommend picking up bulk, “a granel” or “vi de pagès” that offer a much, much better value for the money.
This Ca N’Estruc Negre is part of (what we’ve found to be) the very strange DO Catalunya which is a medley of wines that you often find for cheap prices in the supermarket by wineries that are already in another, smaller DO, and are rarely good. Of course, then the rare winery like Clos d’Agon will pop in there with their highest level wines that are quite excellent. Like we said, it’s weird. Suffice to say, this recent wine will not be found again in our glass.
