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Trossos del Priorat ‘Lo Petit de la Casa’ 2018
Origin: Priorat, Spain
Retail: $19.95 | Sale: $17.95
The goal of Trossos del Priorat is to produce wines expressive of the terroir, with the peculiarities of typical wines of Priorat. Eva Escudé is the oenologist and soul of Trossos del Priorat. Her energy and drive have been indispensable to make the project grow. Her sensitivity is transferred to the wines she produces, elegant and with character. The renowned oenologist Toni Coca is also part of the project as an external advisor. This is a wine made from organically grown strains under the certificate of the Catalan Council of Ecological Agricultural Production (CCPA). The grapes grow on slate soils, they are de-stemmed in the winery and macerated cold for greater aromatic extraction. Fermentation then occurs at low temperature for 19 days. The aging in three year old French oak barrels is about one year. This wine is finally aged in the bottle for 10 months.
Medium cherry color. It has aromas of fruit and fresh balsamic touches, light mineral notes and sweet spices. The mouth is unctuous, easy, fresh and very clean with notes of sweet spices.
80% Cabernet Sauvignon & 20% Grenache
Black Slate ‘Escaladei’ Vi de Vila Priorat 2019
Origin: Priorat, Spain
Retail: $23.95 | Sale: $21.55
Cartoixa d’Scala Dei is picturesquely situated at the foot of the Montsant and adjacent to the derelict priory sits Conreria d’Scala Dei, with the very talented Jordi Vidal at the helm. The estate was founded in 1997 by Jordi and two friends. Their top site, Les Brugueres, and its centenary vines of Garnatxa Blanca produces one of the most delicious, single-varietal white wines in the DOQ. Jordi organically farms several sites that vary in location, elevation, and soil. The vine age at Concreria d’Scala Dei ranges from 10 to well over 100 years old. While most of the vines are rooted in llicorella soils, higher percentages of clay and limestone are mixed with schist closer to the Montsant range. With nearly a dozen sites and such an array of varieties, harvest at Conreria d’Scala Dei is quite hectic. Each site and variety is harvested by hand and brought to the cellar to be fermented separately.The reds see short macerations of less than 20 days, followed by aging in neutral French and American oak barrels.
It stands out among its Black Slate siblings as the most elegant of the lineup, inclined more towards red fruit than black, with a high-toned minerality and spiciness. It is selected from fruit aged in foudre and French oak demi-muids.
A blend of Garnatxa with 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Carinyena
Alvaro Palacios ‘Les Terrasses’ Priorat 2018
Origin: Priorat, Spain
Retail: $49.95 | Sale: $44.95
If anyone embodies the promise and spirit of “The New Spain,” it is Álvaro Palacios. His L’Ermita is widely considered—along with Peter Sisseck’s Pingus—to be the most important new Spanish wine of the modern era. One of nine children born to the owners of Rioja’s respected Palacios Remondo, Álvaro studied enology in Bordeaux, while working under Jean-Pierre Moueix at Ch. Pétrus. He credits his tenure at Pétrus for much of his winemaking philosophy and for showing him “the importance of great wines.” Álvaro could have returned to the security of his family’s domaine, but instead, he was drawn to remote and seductive Priorat. From the beginning, viticulture was fastidious, with organic farming standard and mules employed to work the steep, terraced sites. Álvaro also came to trust in the monks’ wisdom, and in the varieties that they had selected over centuries as best adapted to the land. In particular, he recognized that regional Garnacha clones were the great heritage of this appellation. In time, he also came to cherish the small amounts of other varieties—including white grapes—that were interspersed among his vineyards.
While originally conceived of as a value wine, Les Terrasses has slowly evolved into Álvaro’s statement of what makes Priorat special. Drawing on 15+ years of study, Terrasses is sourced from many of the region’s steepest and oldest vineyards—many of them north-facing to avoid the intense afternoon sun. Today, Les Terrasses is today perhaps the single finest introduction to Priorat in the marketplace.
55% Garnacha with 44% Cariñena and 1% white grapes