Sara Perez and her husband René Barbier Jr. produce their delicious Venus La Universal wines in the Montsant region of Spain. Both of their fathers were pioneers in the famed Priorat region. While Sara and René are heavily involved in their family's estates, Mas Martinet and Clos Mogador, it is the Venus La Universal wines that they create and produce together.

       

Fully embracing low impact, sustainable farming and winemaking, Sara and René are crafting some of the most exciting wines in Spain and offering them at entirely fair prices. Today, we're featuring two of their wines including this just-arrived 2013 Dido red.

A blend of 70% Garnacha and 15% Syrah with smaller amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, the Dido gives loads of pleasure as it explodes with red and black fruit, pepper, herbs and dried earth flavors. Full in body but soft in texture, it shows incredible freshness and purity, potentially due to its partial aging in clay and concrete vessels. Completely drinkable now, this intriguing red will be highly enjoyable for at least the next 3-5 years. We rate it an enthusiastic 92 points. Awarding 93 points, Wine Advocate writes...

"The bright ruby-colored red 2013 Dido is a blend of Garnacha, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grown by four different grape growers on granite soils in the village of Falset where the winery is located. This is one of the few zones where the soil exists in the Montsant appellation, as you leave Falset and head for Porrera. This vintage has a much higher percentage of Garnacha, and the nose shows it, it feels much more floral, fresh, with no herbal tones even with the Bordeaux grapes in a fresh vintage. There is good complexity, it's earthy and balsamic with some Mediterranean hints but keeping the Atlantic freshness. The texture is silky but has some dusty tannins. The 15 months élevage has polished it and made it open and expressive. This is what they were looking for with the red Dido. The wine matured in a combination of cement vats and used barriques, but there is no trace of oak whatsoever. This is great wine and great value."

- 93 Points, Wine Advocate. (6/2015)

As the write-up suggests, Dido contains way more complexity, balance and true character than you'll normally find at this price. Looking online we found 27 listings with a median price of $22. Our price, as usual, is several dollars less. If you're a fan of charismatic, over-delivering reds, you'll want to jump all over this one.