Priorat, Montsant and Rioja
Tasted Friday, September 5, 2014 - Thursday, September 18, 2014 by honest bob with 1,403 views
Introduction
Priorat and Rioja must be two of the most beautiful places in the world to produce great wine. We stayed in comfort, drank and ate well. Prices were moderate (outside Barcelona) and with very few exceptions (Bilbao!) we were treated with politeness, even warmth wherever we went. Tastings we fixed in advance by email, except where the winery advertised drop-in tours (Scala Dei, Vivanco).
Flight 1 - Celler Cal Pla, Porrera (4 Notes)
The impressive volume and quality of the popular "Black Slate" bottling from Cal Pla might suggest a bigger operation, but this small family winery still works out of the basements of two houses facing each other in a tiny street in the village of Porrera. When we visited, the natural temperature in the barrel cellar was about 17C, and there is no air conditioning, but the wines don't seem to suffer. A warm, personal welcome from the winemaker himself, and cellar door prices well below standard retail level. At the end of the tasting he generously allowed us to sample a fine old Rancio from a large, now only partly-filled barrel in a corner of the cellar:
Celler Cal Pla Rancio 1966
Colour something between dark yellow and blushing pink. Intensely yeasty scent; creamy entry, texturally reminiscent of a rich Vin Jaune from the Jura (S. Tissot, perhaps). 19%. A tasty curiosity, holding up well at 48 years of age. NR.
Flight 2 - Cellers de Scala Dei, Escaladei (6 Notes)
Great quality and value across the board here. Good tour with a proper winemaker (as opposed to a tour guide); pleasant, modern, unfussy tasting room and visitor centre.
Flight 3 - Acústic Celler, Marca (3 Notes)
Although Albert Jane is a whirlwind of energy, he is supremely calm when it comes to the important business of winemaking. The first Grenache Blanc grapes of the season were arriving at the time of our appointment at his small warehouse winery in Marca (he has a separate facility in Priorat, where makes his Ritme range). Despite this, he was unflappable, efficiently supervising two workers at the destemmer/crusher and his technical assistant in the small on-site laboratory while showing us around and conducting a fascinating tasting. Nothing is done for show here, there isn't even a sign outside. The money goes into the wine production, with precise temperature control throughout the winemaking process, including the expensively cooled barrel cellar and bottle storage room.
In addition to the three finished wines noted below, Albert kindly let us taste the following not-yet assembled wines from barrel:
Acustic Auditori 2013 (ageing in 1-year-old French oak barrique)
Solid, rich, smoky scent; luxurious, creamy, ripe texture; gentle, firm ripe tannins. Albert Jane described this as "a symphony of taste" —I didn't quite sense the full orchestra playing, but have no doubt that the final blend will perform magnificently. Bravo! 100% Grenache. 93P(?)
Acustic Auditori 2013 (ageing in new barrel French oak barrique)
Creamy texture, luxury vanilla oak, richer than the previous sample (from the once-used barrique). A slightly volatile, grippy edge to the finish. Super-impressive on its own, but I can't wait to taste the final blend. 100% Grenache. 94P(?)
Carignan 2013 (ageing in new barrel French oak barrique)
From vines planted in 1928, yielding only 4,5 (yes, four and a half!) hl/ha. Fabulous blackberry-bomb aroma; linear blackberry/blueberry taste profile with distinct hints of violet and fresh blood. Grippy tannins. One of the most exciting liquids I have ever tasted, it is destined for blending into the 2013 Bráo. Were it bottled as an super-exclusive selection I could see it hitting 96++P, but then the Bráo would be poorer without it, and (fortunately) that would not fit with Mr. Jane's way of doing things.
Carignan 2013 (ageing in 1-year-old French oak barrique)
From vines planted in 1916-19 on a steep slope. Lighter in colour than the previous sample. Closed up right now. Sweet, surprisingly red-fruited for a Carignan. A very serious wine in the making, also destined for blending into the 2013 Bráo. NR
Flight 4 - Marqués de Murrieta, Logrono (3 Notes)
After 8 years of building work, the Murrieta Bodega at Ygay is finally open again to visitors. The result is spectacular, in a super-luxury country house Armani/Prada/Gucci branded hotel kind of way. The visitable areas of the winery are so spotlessly clean and dust- (let alone mould-)free, I wouldn't be surprised if the areas shown to guests were certified as sterile for open heart surgery by the Spanish Association of Cardiac Surgeons. Only joking. The stylish, seamlessly professional and exquisitely polite tour guide made us feel very welcome. At 25 EUR (including a perfectly conducted tasting of three wines at an exquisite round bar, and a trinket from the merchandise selection) this was the most expensive winery visit I can remember. Interestingly, the magnificent bottle storage cellars for vintages going back to the 19th Century are not air conditioned, so at the time of our visit (mid-September) the temperature was about 17C. To our surprise, cellar door prices were uniformly 10% higher than retail prices we saw locally (and indeed are used to in Germany).
Flight 5 - La Rioja Alta, Haro (3 Notes)
A good tour, with some interesting museum items including the old wooden fermentation vats, no longer in use. The cellar door prices are about 10% below standard retail levels. (See also TNs for two splendid 2001 wines under "restaurant meals" below.)
Flight 6 - López de Heredia, Haro (3 Notes)
Almost everything you read on the internet about the cellar tour is true, only the soft carpets of black mould on the walls and bins, the ancient barrels, the superb cooperage with a barrel maker at work... the whole set-up is more vividly amazing than words or pictures can describe. You really do have to smell it, touch it, breathe it in. The ticket price of 30 EUR includes a detailed, charming, professional guided tour, a tasting of 3 wines and a bottle of Tondonia reserva in an attractive presentation tin can. Good value. Cellar door prices are about 10% higher than local retail, and – just crazy, this– you now have to buy 6 bottles of reserva to get one bottle of the current gran reserva release allocated. That seems completely nuts given the volume produced, and the prices charged, so I strongly suspect a marketing device to try to persuade visitors that they should feel glad to pay a premium price to their local distributor even to secure a bottle of GR. Furthermore, and contrary to the house policy until very recently, only the very most recent releases are on sale; and all enquiries about purchasing older vintages are politely but firmly refused. (See also TN for Tondonia blanco reserva 1999 under "restaurant meals" below.)
Flight 7 - Bodgas Dinastía Vivanco, Briones (2 Notes)
This mass-market winery has an enormous visitor centre with restaurant, bar, gift shop (of course) and corny "space age" subterranean facilities straight out of a James Bond movie, complete with circular elevator shafts and an enormous octagonal bunker-like barrel room with a kind of missile launch pad in the centre. Visits every 30 minutes, in large groups, with mediocre English-language summaries over headphones. We wished we hadn't bothered.
The museum is, however, a must-see, and can be visited independently (and more cheaply) without taking the cellar tour. Size matters here as well, but within the cavernous exhibition rooms there are genuinely fascinating, original things to look at (e.g. more than 3000 corkscrews and some fine works of art up to and including Picasso). The didactic concept is first-rate, with effective use of mixed media. We particularly enjoyed the vivid animated film about alcoholic fermentation.
Flight 8 - Various restaurant meals (17 Notes)
We ate well every time we followed a local recommendation, and poorly when we followed the advice we found in published articles in wine magazines or on Trip Advisor. The absolute highlight was a magnificent, moderately priced meal in Brots (Poboleda), closely followed by a very fine meal at the restaurant attatched to Buil & Giné's hotel outside Gratallops. The biggest disappointment was an entirely tasteless, microwaved frozen-foodfest in the (beautiful) dining room of the (otherwise lovely) Hotel Castillo El Collado in Laguardia. The biggest surprise was that both the café and the bistro at the Guggenheim in Bilbao were excellent, and beat everywhere else we tried in Bilbao hands down.
Drinking good wine in restaurants in Northern Spain, especially outside Barcelona, is an affordable pleasure. Even some quite simple places can have amazing winelists, others serve dozens of excellent wines by the glass and have knowledgable staff (who know, for example, how long a bottle has been open, and can advise in detail on vintages). Often the markup is as low as 5-10 EUR over local retail prices (of course the restaurant is getting a substantial commercial discount from the winery). Even fancy restaurants actually seem to want to encourage their customers to drink well with their meal, and set their prices accordingly.
2010 Celler Cal Pla Priorat Mas d'en Compte Blanc 90 Points
Spain, Catalunya, Priorat
(9/8/2014)
60% Grenache Blanc, 20% Xarello, 20% Picquepul. Huge, embracing buttery scent (almost like a massive Californian Chardonnay) sets the stage for this big, fat, oily, mineral beauty. A wonderful undertow of dried candied fruits (papaya...) on the mid-palate. Hard to believe it only has 13,5% alc. with this degree of concentration and fatness. Great now, at least 5 years life on this showing. 12 EUR at cellar door. 90P
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2012 Celler Cal Pla Priorat Mas d'en Compte 88 Points
Spain, Catalunya, Priorat
(9/8/2014)
60% Grenache, 40% Carinena. Bright red with violet reflexes at the rim. Highly aromatic, slightly gamey scent with sweet raspberry. Open, bright, light, (red-)fruity entry; the mid-palate is lighter than I expected, given this wine's 15% alc. Surprisingly dry, grippy tannins make the finish a bit of a challenge right now. Probably best 2016-2020. 7,50 EUR at cellar door. 88P(+?)
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2012 Celler Cal Pla Priorat Mas d'en Compte 90 Points
Spain, Catalunya, Priorat
(9/8/2014)
N.B. This is NOT the "Black Slate" bottling, despite at least one mis-posted TN and label photo on this page! 50% Carignan from 70 year-old vines, 40% Grenache, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Dark red. Heavy, dark, super-ripe loganberry/raspberry/blackberry perfume, almost like a liqueur. This palate is already better integrated than the basic Cal Pla red of the same vintage, with a touch of vanilla, a gorgeous velvety texture, mineral concentration on the mid-palate and ripe tannins giving the long raspberry-jam finish just enough grip to stop it cloying. Terrific now and for 10 years. 12 EUR at cellar door. 90(+)
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2009 Celler Cal Pla Priorat Planots Vi de Vinyes Velles 92 Points
Spain, Catalunya, Priorat
(9/8/2014)
50/50 Grenache/Carignan from 100 year-old vines. Darkest red. Black cherry/ blackcurrant aroma with a whiff of expensive oak. Very sweet and full-bodied, the texture reminds me of a superb Australian Shiraz. Remarkably linear from entry to finish: Smooth, sweet, full-bodied, strong and ripe, with intense, fresh, counterbalancing acidity. The texture develops in the mouth from initial rich velvet to smoothest silky ripe tannins at the close. Still too sweet for my palate, this will surely improve for 5-10 years and keep for decades. 50 EUR at cellar door. 92P
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