Priorat Garnatxa

 Up to about 30 years ago, Priorat was a run down region with a lot of poverty and no significant investment in vineyards or winemaking. Then a number of winemakers realized the great history and potential of this area. A group of five wineries moved away from bulk production and planted new vineyards with an interest in single vineyard wines. In the meantime, Chateauneuf-du-Pape had become the epicenter for Grenache. But Priorat started to fight back. And as proud Catalans, they spell their wine Garnatxa. The following mini tasting takes a look at the current state of play.

The 2020 Sara i Rene Dido Garnatxa Tinto is an entry level style wine, but made by two of the famous five, Réné Barbier of Clos Mogador and his wife Sara Perez of Mas Martinet. The Grenache dominant blend is grown on limestone soil. They farm biodynamically. The wine impresses with its pure fruit and elegance. It is not as concentrated as the following wines.

Score: 91/+

The 2020 Mas Doix 'Les Crestes' Poboleda Garnatxa is made from younger vines. The vines are grown on soft powdery brown slate. The flavours show the unique profile of Priorat Grenache. This is not so much raspberry, and it is not sweet. Dark cherry and boysenberry is what I taste. This is a powerful wine with bigger weight than the first wine and more grip than the third, yet impressive silky tannins. I love this wine.

Score: 95/+++

No Priorat tasting is complete without a wine from its superstar, Alvaro Palacios. The 2019 Alvaro Palacios Les Terrases Garnatxa-Carinyena is a blend from an astonishing 80 plots across 8 different villages. The common denominator is the black slate on which the vines are grown. It has similar fruit flavours to the previous wine. The structure is not as big, with a focus on elegance. It is a driven wine, still powerful and a little rustic.

Score: 94/++

 

Two Spanish Beauties

 

Spanish wines have never received the accolades of Italian wines. However, they can be very delicious and unique. I recently tasted two impressive examples.

The 2004 Cune Gran Reserva Imperial would be difficult to source now, but if it is on offer somewhere, do not hesitate. This Rioja Tempranillo is intense on the nose. It is dark fruited, with some herbal overtones. This is a smooth and balanced wine, full bodied, yet with a certain lightness on the palate. This is an elegant wine, at peace with itself.

Score: 95/+++

The 2014 Clos Mogador Manyetes from Priorat is a blend of predominantly Grenache, Carignan and Shiraz. This is quite a different style from the Rioja. This wine is still quite fresh. The flavours are difficult to pin down. The palate is concentrated and tightly knit. There is raspberry, blackberry, licorice. It is complex. But the wine is not so much fruit orientated. Minerality and some saltiness are strong and wound up in balanced acidity. With all this, it is a polished wine.

Score: 94/+++

Priorat Granacha Blend

The 2017 Blai Ferré Billo is a great introduction to the schist terroir of Priorat. The wine is a blend dominated by Grenache and Shiraz. 

This wine has a ruby colour. The wine is fresh, aged in stainless steel. On the palate, it has fruit characteristics of raspberry, red cherry, and plum. The fruit weight of this medium-bodied wine is good. Mocca flavours on the back palate, minerality and smoky notes, typical of the low vigour terroir, add to complexity. Medium acidity and tannins deliver a balanced and elegant mouthfeel before finishing dry.

This wine is quite easy, as perhaps indicated by the label, yet serious drinking and has settled better on day two after opening.

Score: 90/++ 

Super Premium Spanish Wines, Including A $2500 Bottle

I recently attended a tasting of outstanding Spanish wines, where the emphasis was on 'delicacy', not something automatically associated with Spanish wines. I will report here on the Mencia wines, and the wines from Priorat and Rioja. The tasting was set up in such a way that a top-level blended wine was shown first, followed by some single vineyard wines, which the Spanish only recently started to emphasize.

Mencia is a grape variety grown in the northwestern part of Spain. It derives from Portuguese varieties. It has a reputation for light and diluted wines, but more serious wines have recently been made, with great success. The 2016 DJP 'Petalos' from Bierzo is one of the leading blends. It is very attractive wine, based on red cherry flavours with good intensity, great length and a dry finish (93 points). The two single vineyard wines were from Valdeorras. The 2015 Telmo Rodriguez 'As Caborcas' Vineyard wine is a bit lighter and delicate, with enticing sea-spray and spice flavours (93 points). The 2015 Telmo Rodriguez 'Falcoeira' Vineyard wine is more generous, with a bigger mouthfeel, sea-spray again on an elegant texture, and a balanced finish (94 points).

The blended Grenache from Priorat is the 2017 Blai Ferre Just 'Billo'. This is a medium-bodied wine, raspberry the dominant  up-front fruit flavour, but not overpowering, delivering an elegant and balanced structure with a dry finish (93 points). Next is the 2015 Blai Ferre Just 'Desnivell' Vineyard Grenache. Apart from raspberry fruit, there are also blue fruits here - a very drinkable wine (92 points).

The highlight of the tasting arguably were the two wines of Alvaro Palacios. The 2015 'Finca Dofi' shows quite a light colour, which translates onto the palate, but the intensity grows quickly, a bit like an iron fist in a velvet glove. The raspberry flavours are matched by savoury notes (94 points). The famous 2015 L'Ermita is quite a fascinating wine. The colour is light as well. This is a very smooth wine, dancing on your tongue. It has been described as liquid poetry. The subdued fruit lays bare the complexity of this wine, from orange rind to slate minerality. A little sweetness completes the satisfying mouthfeel (96 points). 

Is this wine worth $2500 per bottle? First, why does it cost so much? Yes, the yield is low, and the handling is very detailed and specific, but the main reason is that the fruit comes from a 1ha property. So scarcity drives the price. For a case of 12 bottles, you get a decent car. The wine is gone in 12 nights, but the car lasts years. Ok, I am comparing luxury with utility, but it is hard to make a rational case for it. As there is very little going around, the winery is not relying on rational decision-making; so it all works out.

The Rioja blend is the 2016 Alegre & Valganon Tempranillo-Garnacha. This is an odd blend. The wine has some depth, but is not complex; an easy drinking style with a little sweetness (90 points). The 2016 Alegre & Valganon 'La Calleja' Vineyard Tempranillo is a light to medium-bodied wine. The wine has good drive on the back of its red cherry fruit, but is a little harsh on the finish (90 points). A more interesting wine is the 2016 Alegre & Valganon 'Bahiarra' Field Blend. Field blends are all the rage in Portugal, but this is good, too. The wine has a darker colour, which translates into darker fruit, mainly black cherry, on the palate. The texture is very harmonious (93 points). 

The two best Rioja wines were the 2016 Sinodo Viticultors 'Los Tollos' Tempranillo, and the 2015 Telmo Rodriguez 'Tabuerniga' Tempranillo. The former impressed with its complex fruit flavours and superb elegance, before finishing light (95 points), the latter was a bigger wine with complex fruit and earthy flavours, wound together for a satisfying mouthfeel (94 points).     

  

Two Spanish Beauties

It is interesting that imports in the major wine producing countries are increasing. This is because wine consumers are looking for new experiences, and they are looking for wines with personality. This is where two amazing Spanish wines, I had the good fortune of tasting a few days ago, come in.

 The first wine is very rare, only 800 bottles were made. The label is pretty confusing. The winemakers are Barbier and Perez, and the wine is a 2013 Partida Bellvisos White from Priorat. The grape would have been Grenache Blanc. And look at the alcohol: 15%! The golden colour of the wine was amazing: clear and vibrant. Not like a wine you expect butterscotch flavours from - and we did not get them.

In fact, this was an elegant wine with beautiful texture. The richness of the fruit subsumed the alcohol, which was barely noticeable. The main flavours were walnut, chestnut, biscuit, but vibrant, not like a mature wine or a Rhone variety. I have never tasted a wine like this.

Score: 96/+++

The second beauty is better known: the 2012 Vega Sicilia Valbuena. This is the second wine from the Penfolds of Spain and its current release.

This Tempranillo tastes of black and blue fruits. The flavours are intense and penetrating. The wine is medium- to full-bodied and sits on an elegant frame. It has a great line, with soft tannins and a long finish - an excellent package.

Score: 95/+++