Rafael Cambra Dos

Rafael Cambra Dos is a well-crafted wine, which makes an immediate impact on the nose with a hefty measure of fresh, lusciously rich fruit. It is a wine we might well describe as sprightly, lively, very open and accessible, packed with primary aromas, smelling of sweet and acidic fruit, fresh and balsamic, which we would rarely associate with the Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc varieties, unless we had read about its composition beforehand. The mineral background (flinty) and whiff of coffee essence are the few features that might make us have the odd doubt about its obvious Mediterranean personality, from the south. Decant it half an hour in advance or let it open up in the glass, and you will see how that intense fruitiness and some increasingly apparent, subtle menthol notes always end up by dominating the aromatic palette.

Its entry on the palate is supple, and it maintains that freshness and ripe-fruit intensity on the nose. With a controlled but evident powerfulness, a good tannic structure, and medium-bodied, it proves a juicy wine inviting you to take another sip; it presents a good balance between sweetness and acidity, offering just the level of succulence. Rounding off its flavour profile are some spicy notes of wild shrubs, traces of well-integrated new wood and mild peppery hints. Then again, if we keep hold of the wine in the mouth, India ink notes become apparent; yet its character is definitely that of an Iberian wine, confirming its roots in those two international varieties; on tasting blind, it comes over as a Southern Mediterranean wine, with “classic” undertones that might just keep us wondering.

A wine to set us thinking, for drinking and enjoying without hindrance, an accessible and most attractive wine.