14% abv. Alko's first "natural" wine - and as typical for Alko, they follow the trends a little bit late and always go for an underperformer. So first the positive stuff: I don't smell oak (it is aged for a short time in big barrels) and there is some really attractive tannin and liveliness on the palate.
And then the negative stuff: it smells so sweet as to be raisiny and confected; and though attractively tannic and lively on the palate, it still ends up feeling a rather too fruit forward and heavy and clunky.
The best natural wines - even those on the cheaper end of the spectrum - have ethereal grace and lightness of touch and are energetic and refreshing drinks. This one seems sweet and confected, and despite some "natural" elements it seems heavy and graceless and pedestrian. Certainly among the safest of the "natural" wines I have had. This is a true hipster wine: too mainstream already.
