Besllum 2011 Red Blend Montsant

My local Costco is having one of their seasonal wine sales. This sale lasts until March 26 and there are 21 wines selling for reduced prices. One of the wines in the sale is the 2011 Besllum Red Blend from Montsant Spain.

In December 2013, I blogged about the Besllum 2008 which I had purchased at Costco for $12.99. I noted that the wine had magazine ratings as high as 93 points but that the praise was far from unanimous. I myself, liked the wine and rated it as 90 points. Since 2013, Costco has periodically stocked later vintages of Besllum and I was less enthusiastic about it.

Costco now has the 2011 vintage Besllum for $8.59. The wine is 50% Garnacha, 40% Carinena and 10% Syrah aged for 13-15 months in oak barriques, 40% of them new. The wine has flavors of very dark fruit, described by some as plums, prunes and dates. There are definite good points to this wine but overall it is far from the very enjoyable 2008 version.

SC Wine Joe rating = 87 points

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