Priorat

[bakerestates]

A recent 3 day trip to Priorat & Navarra revealed the following;

Buil & Gine

High up in the hills of Priorat near the town of Falset. A very young winery producing a range of pure wines which totally represent their terroir.

Giné Giné Rosado

Quite an exciting style of rose, blend of Grenache and Merlot. Amazing deep pink colour with vibrant, savoury and juicy red fruit. Rich and multi layered. Great food wine.

Pleret Negre Dolc Late Harvest

Sweet Grenache, Carignan and Cabernet. Lovely desert red. Deep and dark with a herbal scented pressence. Really intriguing. The white version of this was also really enjoyable with a honeyed, cough sweet palate.

Baboix Montsat

From the neighbouring region of Monstant this was the stand out red. Old vine (90 years old) Garnacha, Carignan, Cabernet, Merlot give a concentrated dense flavour with spice, liqourice with sweet oak. Really good.

At the end of this day, we tasted from barrel and newly bottled wines as well as 2001, 2002, 2004 wines from

CARTOIXA DE MONTSALVAT

This is a tiny producer, only 20,000 bottles a year in a village La Viella Alto, north of Falset. A late cloudy evening with the sun illumating the rocky hills of Priorat. We tasted

Montgarnatx

A truly gited touch for winemaking giving a sense of place. Granacha and Carignan, full of bright, spicy fruit with lovely enticing texture.

Montsalvat

Wow, maybe it was the fact that such a tiny cellar could produce something so stunning. Really big, rich, prunes, smokey and spicy. Again, a soft texture that keeps it balanced.

I really recommend these two producers. Also from Navarra, Laus.

Piers

Edited April 1, 2008 by bakerestates (log)