Family Article

There are not a lot of other wines with this much history of high scores at such consistent pricing year in year out!  The Wine Advocate has score this wine 94+ ever since 2003 and before that, not one wine under 90! This is benchmark Priorat as the 2005 version of this wine was the first wine to receive the newest classification, "Vi de finca Qualificada" as best of the best! The Barbier family is originally from Gigondas where they owned vineyards until the phyloxera devastation brought René's great grandfather to Tarragona. There he founded a small negociant company that built an excellent reputation for itself over the years. In the early 1970's the family firm was purchased by Rumasa and subsequently sold to Freixenet, the big cava producer.   Clos Mogador is named after a novel written by René's great aunt called "Les Gens de Mogador" describing her family's life at the foot of Mont Ventoux. The story was subsequently televised and became famous in France. René's first vintage was 1989 - a wine that still shows considerable aging potential. Since then, Clos Mogador has established its position as one of the most exciting and prestiguous red wines from Spain, and in recognition René has recently been awarded the Order of Agricultural merit by the Spanish government.


"...the flagship 2008 Clos Mogador. It is made up of 40% Garnacha, 20% Carinena, with the balance Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Dense purple in color, it sports an expansive bouquet of liquid minerality, wood smoke, game, Asian spices, truffle, and blackberry. Opulent on the palate with layered fruit and precision balance...the jury is still out on the longevity of the top Priorats but more and more data points keep popping to suggest that 20 and even 30 years is possible."