Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
Sourced from Gratallops in Priorat, the 2021 Clos Martinet is composed primarily of Garnatxa, with the remainder consisting of Syrah, Cariñena and Cabernet Sauvignon. Two-thirds of the wine was fermented and aged in concrete, with one-third aged in foudres and amphorae. This garnet wine offers a reductive character atop a pure core of sour cherry, cinnamon, dried flowers and a faint note of undergrowth. Dry with fine-grained tannins.
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Wine Spectator
Baked raspberry and strawberry fruit is accented by hints of tea rose, black tea leaf, dark chocolate and incense in this lovely red, which offers a fragrant core of ripe fruit enmeshed with dense, fine-grained tannins. Plush in texture and graceful overall, with a clean swathe of citrusy acidity shaping the long, pure and mineral-laced finish. Lovely. Syrah, Garnacha, Carinyena, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2036. 1,000 cases made, 200 cases imported.
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.