Winemaker Notes
#56 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2025
Their tribute to youth, tenacity, love and Grenache. The wine, from plots in Falset, exhibits delicious fruit and is aged in a combination of barrels and clay amphorae to maintain an extraordinary freshness and purity.
Blend: 70% Garnatxa, 20% Sira, 10% Carinyena, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's 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.
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Wine Spectator
A well-spiced red that’s light on its feet, this fresh, medium-bodied example offers crushed raspberry and strawberry fruit, dried rosemary and lavender, milled pepper, graphite and mineral notes. Lightly chewy on the lingering finish. Grenache, Carinyena, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2031.
With hundreds of red grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended red wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged resulting in a wide variety of red wine styles. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a red wine blend variety that creates a fruity and full-bodied wine would do well combined with one that is naturally high in acidity and tannins. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
How to Serve Red Wine
A common piece of advice is to serve red wine at “room temperature,” but this suggestion is imprecise. After all, room temperature in January is likely to be quite different than in August, even considering the possible effect of central heating and air conditioning systems. The proper temperature to aim for is 55° F to 60° F for lighter-bodied reds and 60° F to 65° F for fuller-bodied wines.
How Long Does Red Wine Last?
Once opened and re-corked, a bottle stored in a cool, dark environment (like your fridge) will stay fresh and nicely drinkable for a day or two. There are products available that can extend that period by a couple of days. As for unopened bottles, optimal storage means keeping them on their sides in a moderately humid environment at about 57° F. Red wines stored in this manner will stay good – and possibly improve – for anywhere from one year to multiple decades. Assessing how long to hold on to a bottle is a complicated science. If you are planning long-term storage of your reds, seek the advice of a wine professional.
