Lovely Spanish wine in the tucked away east village Carrera wine bar

   Wandering out of a movie last night in the east village, one of my two friends made a "hoist a drink" hand gesture and I nodded. When you've laughed out loud together over  a movie as much as we had, the idea of re-living the laughs, with of course a nice glass of wine, is more than enticing on a chilly Friday night. My friend Mary had a destination in mind, and we wandered over a block and up two. The first one we hit was empty and fully exposed to the street. Her husband, Neil picked out the spot we eventually went into, of three possibilities on the block: Carrera Wine Bar, a sweet spot with frosted windows on the outside, and warm lighting and a long bar on the inside.   http://www.barcarrera.com/

The list was interesting looking, all Spanish. Categorized under regions, the Montsant area's Negre Samso 2008 from producer Clos de Noi spoke to me. The descriptor of old vines and high elevation and layers of dark berry flavors on the wine list was a good selling point. $10 a glass, fine since I was only planning on having one glass, although curiously the waiter tried to talk us out of this selection. Then poured from a bottle that was almost empty, with a regular cork stuck in the top. The wine was flat, but he did offer us a sip to assess that. When my friend Mary gave the taste a tepid response, he offered to open a fresh bottle. As he should have. In the first place.

The Montsant DO (Denominacion de Origen) region was carved out of the Terragona region in 2001, when it was recognized that the wines from their prime, high-altitude vineyards were producing such high quality wines that they deserved their own identity. Less than 60 wines are produced in this region.

Made with the Carinena (Carignan) grape variety, a late ripening black grape, it produces wonderfully full bodied and a fruit heavy flavored wine.

Great everyday wine to enjoy with appetizers on a chilly night.

And it sells for a reasonable $14.99 at Astor wines.


Click here to buy Clos de Noi at Astor Wines







--Monica Forrestall