Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Ripe blueberries, slate, graphite and touches of ink, dried roses, goji berries and dried Mediterranean herbs and spices. This is quite an elegant, dialed-back rendition from this warm vintage, showing refinement, fluidity and brightness. Long, understated and effortless finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Arbossar comes from the north-facing vineyard planted in 1910 that names the wine, a 1.6-hectare steep plot, one of the oldest in the region, at 400 meters above sea level on slate and granite soils. The full clusters fermented with indigenous yeasts, and the wine matured in concrete for eight months. It has a moderate 13.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.6 and mellow acidity. This is very Cariñena, with its rustic side, with character, some earthy notes, hints of herbs, berries and flowers and a mineral, iron-like note developing with time in the glass. It has power and energy, medium ripeness and very fine tannins, with a very balanced mouthfeel.
Responsible for some of the most stunning old vine red wine on the planet, Carignan has an amazing capacity to survive dry, arid climates and still produce lovely, mouthwatering wine. In Spain it goes by the name of Mazuelo or Cariñena and while it may have originated there in the province of Aragón, its popularity lies elsewhere, particularly in Languedoc-Roussillon. Somm Secret—Historically Carignan did not enjoy the respect that it does today. In the mid 20th century, Carignan covered nearly 140,000 ha in Algeria, where it was made into low quality bulk and blending wine to supply mass-market demand.
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.