Sara I Rene Partida Bellvisos Blanc 2014
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Parker
Robert
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
On both sides at the upper and lower levels of their Bellvisos vineyard are old Garnatxa Blanca (White Grenache) and Macabeu (Viura) vines: Bellvisos Blanc. This is a wine fit for ageing, deep and complex (similar to the great Priorat reds). It is Mediterranean, with skin contact and aged mainly in 600 Litre oak barrels…it transports you from the highest parts of the vineyards where wild fennel and anise grow, right the way down to the lower levels where the more clay-based soils are profound and structured…It is a tiny journey descending and ascending our rocky, unique terrain.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Gratallops Partida Bellvisos Blanc comes from a very old vineyard that has Garnacha Blanca in the higher part and some Trepat Blanco grapes at the bottom. It's a very steep coster, with a difference of 100 meters between the higher and lower parts. It fermented with some skins for one month and then was put in 600-liter used demi-muids for one year. It has a golden color, as the Garnacha Blanca skins lend color pretty quickly and also provide some fine tannins. It opens up in the glass in a spectacular way.
Other Vintages
2017-
Parker
Robert
Producing full-bodied white wines, Grenache Blanc can be unctuous and soft or floral and fresh. Some of the finest examples are terroir-driven, age-worthy wines. It is a key ingredient in white Châteauneuf-du-Pape and many white blends across southern France and NE Spain. Somm Secret—Grenache Blanc plays a key role in the vins doux naturels of Rivesaltes and a subsidiary role in those of Banyuls and Maury.
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.