Priorat Tasting at Wine Watch with Eric Solomon Selections

Age is just a number. It's totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine. -Joan Collins

Every time we show wines from the Priorat I am surprised to see how many new fans these wines acquire.  They have gorgeous forward  fruit and an early appeal that rank very high on the immediate gratification scale.  Tonight we will be tasting wines from Eric Solomon's selections, one of the premier U.S. Importers of Spanish wines specializing in wines from the Priorat.  Anthony Pannone, Eric's right hand man in the southeast US will be here to guide us through the wines and chef Mike Saperstein from Wine Watch Catering will be providing a few small things to pair with the wines.  This is a walk around tasting and is limited to 25 tasters, the fee for this event is $45 all-inclusive for reservations call 954-523-9463.

Priorat Tasting at Wine Watch with Eric Solomon Selections
Saturday August 1st
7:30pm

2006 Les Brugueres Scala Dei
List $32            Sale $29           Case $326

(90 Points)  A rare white wine from Priorat, the 2006 Les Brugueres is produced from 100% Garnacha Blanca. It comes from a single vineyard with 100+-year-old vines planted on the licorella (schist) soil for which Priorat is famous. Light gold-colored, it emits pleasant aromas of mineral and melon. This is followed by a full-bodied wine with good ripeness, balancing acidity, and mediumlength. It is an intellectually pleasing wine that lacks that extra dimension of excitement. Drink it over the next 2 years.  Wine Advocate # 169, Feb 2007

2006 Closa Batllet Blanco Gratallops
List $45            Sale $39.60      Case $459

The whites from the Priorat are very unique and distinct with lots of minerality and ripe fruit, this one is a blend of 60% Escanyavella (traditional in Priorat), 40% Garnacha Blanca, the wine is aged for 3 months in french Jupilles oak barriques (2/3) and american (1/3), and bottled after 6 months to retain i9ts freshness. 

2006 Celler de l'Encastell Marge Porrera
List $30            Sale $27           Case $306

(92 Points)  The 2006 Marge is 60% Garnacha, 14% Syrah, 13% Merlot, and 13% Cabernet Sauvignon aged for 8 months in French and American oak. Purple-colored with a ruby rim, it has an enticing nose of lavender, violets, garrigue, cherry and blueberry which jumps from the glass. Smooth textured, spicy, and full-flavored, the wine has terrific depth and length. Give it 2-3 years to blossom and drink it through 2020.  Wine Advocate # 175, Feb 2008

2005 Roquers de Porrera Porrera
List $57            Sale $51           Case $581

The outcropping rocks in mountain slopes are called "Roquers" in Catalan.  The varieties here are 80% Garnatxa and Carignan from the older vines & 20% Merlot and Syrah.  Vineyards: 7 Ha altogether of vineyards (2 Ha in "Mas d'en Caçador" Estate with Garnatxa and Carignan of 70 and 100 year old palnts and 5 Ha in "Mas d'en Ferran" Estate with Garnacha , Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah planted in the mid 90s)  Farming Practice: Sustainable  Age of Vines: 70 to 100 years old  Soils: Degradated slate of volcanic origin. Acidic and very poor soils. Altitude: 500 meters  Aging: 16 months in 225 lt French oak barriques, 50% brand new, and 50% second use

2005 Mas Doix Salanques Poboleda
List $44            Sale $39           Case $449

(93 Points)  The 2005 Salanques, a blend of 65% Garnacha, 20% Carinena, and the balance Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, is aged in French oak for 14 months. It has a glass-coating purple-hue with an alluring bouquet of cedar, smoke, slate, blueberry, and black cherry. Youthful and structured on the palate, this potentially complex effort will profit from 5-7 years of additional cellaring. It will be at its best from 2015 to 2030. Wine Advocate # 175, Feb 2008

2005 Mas Alta Artigas La Vilella Alta
List $41            Sale $36           Case $418

(91 Points)  Mas Alta is a project of renowned French winemaker/negociant Michel Tardieu. The 2005 Artigas is 60% Garnacha, 35% Carinena, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon aged for 15 months in new French oak. Deep crimson-colored, the nose reveals pain grille, pencil lead, violets, lavender, blueberry, and wild cherry. Smooth-textured, spicy, and with good depth, this is a solid Priorat for drinking over the next 8-10 years.  Wine Advocate # 175, Feb 2008

2005 Mas Alta Basseta La Vilella Alta
List $59            Sale $52           Case $602

A blend of 45% Mazuela(Carignan), 40% Grenache Noir and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon from vineyards which 70% from slopes facing South West and 30% from slopes facing South East.  The vineyard practices sustainable farming practices, the age of vines: 40-100 year old Mazuela, 15 year old Genache Noir, 10 year old Cabernet Sauvignon. The soils: Dark flat llicorella (slate) stone surface - the roots find it difficult to grow in, therefore they are found deeper in layers of red clay which allows a qualitative water regulation for the vines.  Altitude: Mazuela and Grenache at 450 meters and the Cabernet at 250 meters  Aging: Aged 16 months in new French oak (Allier): 80% of new barrels and 20% of one year barrels

2004 Closa Batllet Gratallops
List $51            Sale $45           Case $520

(93 Points)  The 2004 Closa Batllet is 67% Carinena, 16% Garnacha, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, and 2% Syrah aged for 15 months in French and American oak. Inky purple, the wine has a wonderful perfume of scorched earth, truffle, graphite, black cherry, and blueberry. This is followed by an opulent wine with full-body, fleshy blue fruits, and a lengthy finish in a hedonistic package. Drink this forward effort over the next 12-15 years.  eRobertParker.com # 169, Feb 2007

2005 Closa Batllet "2 Vinyes" Gratallops
List $120          Sale $106         Case $1224

100% Carignan, the first vintage of this wine Vineyards: Gratallops property: la Coma. North-West faced. 90 years old. Torroja del Priorat property: Tros d'en Coma. South-West faced. 60 years old Aging: 15 months in new French Allier

2006 Vinya del Vuit El 8 Gratallops
List $105          Sale $93           Case $1071

The wine comes from a 1 hectare vineyard that is plowed by mule, there are only 2 barrels produced.  This micro-cuvee of 600 bottles takes its name from the eight member partnership. The soul of this project is the couple formed by young and famous winemakers René Barbier Jr. (Clos Mogador) and Sara Perez (Clos Martinet). The rest of the partners are friends of René and Sara - El 8 are: Sara Pérez, Montserrat Mateos, Ester Nin, Nuria Pérez, René Barbier Jr, Philippe Thévenon, Iban Foix and Julián Basté.

(94 Points)  The glass-staining 2006 El 8 is 95% Carinena and 5% Garnacha sourced from a single vineyard. It offers up a superb, lightly roasted bouquet of toasty oak, liquid minerals, underbrush, espresso, lavender, and blueberry muffin. Structured on the palate, it has plenty of savory, spicy fruit, ripe tannin, and a pure, lengthy finish. It will evolve for 5-7 years and drink well from 2015 to 2031  Wine Advocate # 183, Jun 2009

Menu

Assorted Spanish Cheeses & Seasonal Fruit

Manchego Gougeres with Spicy Tomato Puree

Jamon Stuffed Crispy Olives

Braised Kurabuta Pork & Poblano Pepper Quesadilla

A bit about the Priorat:

On my trip to Spain in 2002 with Eric Solomon I will always remember the Priorat as the place where we almost died.  There were screams coming from the back of the Range Rover "Please let us out- we’ll buy the wine, we don’t care how much it costs!"  "Ok we get the picture it’s hard to farm this land and its dangerous, take us back down the mountain, we want to live!"  We happened up into the mountains on a day where it was rainy and cold, which made it even more dangerous to travel up the narrow dirt roads leading up into one of the highest elevation vineyards in the Priorat.  The vines that we encountered were short little squatty things that seemed to struggle to get air in this extreme environment.  The old cliché come to mind - "it is the vine that struggles the most that produces the most profound fruit".  We couldn’t decide whether the vines or the vineyard workers in this case struggled the most, because as you walked carefully between the rows of vines, it seemed that one wrong step could send you tumbling down the mountain.  Well, it definitely made for an exciting afternoon.

The Priorat is the most exciting region in Spain today for red wine. El Priorat, AOC, is located south of the Serra de Monsant mountain range, in a very pecular basin surrounded by the rivers Siurana, Montsant and Cortiella.  It is a land with character, with charming villages and landscapes brimming with history and personality.  Its hardworking and tenacious inhabitants have transformed this chalky land known as llicorell (slate), into a unique land for winegrowing.  The fruit of the wine makes for exceptional wines, fames throughout the world for their characteristic strength, aroma and body.  Since the birth of the new wave of Priorat superstars in 1989, it has become clear that the Gold Coast of this ancient, terraced appellation are the hillside, slate covered slopes around the village of Gratallops.  Here the now famous L'Ermita, Clos Mogador and Clos Dofi are produced.    In a little over a decade more high quality wines have emerged from this extreme wine region that from anywhere else in Spain. 

The Greeks and Romans first created the terraced hillsides that adorn this area over 1000 years ago.  The elevation here reaches 1000 meters in some points and farming these vineyards is extremely difficult.  This wine is born of the fruit of ancient vines planted directly in the fractured slate of a steep Priorat hillside.  The awe-inspiring view of the Serra del Montsant is no accident.  For centuries the farmers before us knew that the best grapes came from the North facing hillsides that gave some shelter from the intense summer sun.  Here and there throughout Porrera vineyard are "Roquers", rock outcroppings deeply penetrated by roots in search of moisture.  Thus the origin of the name- "Roquers de Porrera".