Winemaker Notes
Camí Pesseroles is the reflection of its location, the ancient mountain road from Gratallops to Porrera, where you sink knee-deep into the slate. It is also the reflection of that old Cariñena, which is more than 80 years old, and a younger 30-year-old Garnacha.
A precise and elegant wine. Aromas of red and dark berry preserves, cola, incense, candied violet, smoky mineral quality, spice cake, and cherry, complemented by a fresh and expressive mouthfeel.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The red 2019 Camí Pesseroles comes from a co-plantation of Garnacha and Cariñena planted in 1939. Whole clusters were foot trodden and fermented with indigenous yeasts for almost three weeks in open-top 500-liter chestnut wood barrels and an oak vat. The wine was pressed and matured in 650-liter chestnut and acacia, cherry and oak barrels. There was a heat wave, and the Cariñena was blocked. The wine has a very light color and very good tension in the palate. It's very young and elegant, and it has more of the profile of the Escurçons, which in 2019 is more concentrated than Pesseroles. 13.5% alcohol, very good freshness... Delicate like no other vintage. Surprising. 1,200 bottles produced. Best after 2022.
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Wine Spectator
An elegant red, deftly integrating a core of sculpted tannins with a fine range of pureed black raspberry, ground anise and white pepper, loamy earth and licorice notes. Floral on the nose, with good length and tension on the fresh finish. Grenache and Carignan. Drink now
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
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.