Winemaker Notes
“Baby White” is the young, white Garnacha (Grenache) wine which epitomises the village of Bellmunt in the south of Priorat. It offers aromas of orange peel and forest floor with a slightly mineral palate and a Mediterranean herb finish.
A wine to be drunk for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It works well with seafood and fish dishes, with Japanese food (sushi or sashimi) and also with springtime vegetables such as asparagus.
Blend: 60% Garnacha Blanca, 30% Macabeo, 10% Viognier
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The village white 2019 Bellmunt Blanc is a fresh, mineral and vibrant blend of 60% Garnacha Blanca, 30% Macabeo and 10% Viognier from sandstone and limestone soils, very appropriate to obtain this kind of freshness and finesse even in a very warm and dry year. The wine carries organic certification, and they also apply biodynamic methods in the vineyard that they believe often compensates the natural conditions. Even in this low-yielding year, the wine comes through as quite pure and delicate.
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
Tiny and entirely composed of craggy, jagged and deeply terraced vineyards, Priorat is a Catalan wine-producing region that was virtually abandoned until the early 1990s. This Spanish wine's renaissance came with the arrival of one man, René Barbier, who recognized the region’s forgotten potential. He banded with five friends to create five “Clos” in the village of Gratallops. Their aim was to revive some of Priorat’s ancient Carignan vines, as well as plant new—mainly French—varieties. These winemakers were technically skilled, well-trained and locally inspired; not surprisingly their results were a far cry from the few rustic and overly fermented wines already produced.
This movement escalated Priorat’s popularity for a few reasons. Its new wines were modern and made with well-recognized varieties, namely old Carignan and Grenache blended with Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. When the demand arrived, scarcity commanded higher prices and as the region discovered its new acclaim, investors came running from near and far. Within ten years, the area under vine practically doubled.
Priorat’s steep slopes of licorella (brown and black slate) and quartzite soils, protection from the cold winds of the Siera de Monstant and a lack of water, leading to incredibly low vine yields, all work together to make the region’s wines unique. While similar blends could and are produced elsewhere, the mineral essence and unprecedented concentration of a Priorat wine is unmistakable.