Winemaker Notes
Forward and elegant wine with an attractive and fruity nose. Full-bodied, smooth palate of deep rounded flavours, nicely noticeable minerality with ripe fruit and spicy notes. Excellent length.
Blend: 65% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Carignan, 4% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017s feel relaxed, something unusual in Priorat. The 2017 Clos Martinet has seen a change, as they stopped using the sorting table and stopped using the pied de cuve, because the harvest was very easy. They harvested in August—the earliest ever until 2018—and they didn't have time to do anything; so, they put the grapes in the vats and let them ferment, and that's what they have been doing ever since. They feel that there is less manipulation of the grapes now, and that could have helped to make wines more relaxed. This is truly harmonious and expressive, elegant and powerful, not showing any heat—in fact, it's showing very much freshness.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A beautiful sense of minerality and rocky earth as well as pure black cherry, currants, bouquet garni, and leather emerge from the 2017 Priorat Clos Martinet, which is based on 65% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Carignan, and the rest Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Medium to full-bodied, nicely concentrated, with firm tannins and a great finish, this classic expression of this cuvée will benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and cruise in cold cellars over the following 10-15 years.
Rating: 94+ -
Wine Enthusiast
Deep ruby in the glass, this wine has a bouquet of pomegranate, strawberry and charcuterie. There is a nice interplay of fruit and savory flavors—notably blackberry, raspberry preserves, butterscotch, Serrano ham and thyme. Potent tannins power on into a smoky finish.
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.