Winemaker Notes
Porrera Vi de Vila Blanco displays a straw-like color in the glass. On the nose, notes of ripe white fruit, dried herbs, butter, blossom and earth waft forth. The palate is round and balanced with ripe fruit and a hint of pleasant bitterness on the long finish.
Garnaxa is renowned as a true food wine whose robust character and versatile flavors perfectly complement a wide array of culinary delights.
Blend: 100% Garnaxa Blanca
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The very balsamic and waxy white 2023 Porrera Vi de Vila Blanco now mentions on the label the places from which the grapes are sourced, the lieux-dits (or parajes) of La Coma d’en Romeu, Mas d’en Perí and La Sentiu, all in the village of Porrera and all planted with young vines on slopes at 400 to 550 meters above sea level. It's pure Garnacha Blanca with varietal typicity, good ripeness and 14.5% alcohol; so, it's not a shy white. After 72 hours of maceration, it fermented with the skins in stainless steel for 25 days, with daily bâtonnage. It matured in 2,000-liter oak foudres for five months. It has a golden color and a ripe nose with notes of ripe apples, some spice and herbs. It's round and juicy, with herbal and balsamic flavors and a dry finish.
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Vinous
The 2023 Blanco Porrera Vi de Vila is 100% Garnatxa Blanca from various vineyards in Porrera, Priorat. Fermented with skin contact and aged for three months in foudres, this golden-hued wine offers a briny aroma of kumquat and herbs, with a hint of orange peel. Dry, rich and somewhat tannic due to the skins, it delivers a fruity expression and an ample mouthfeel.
Old vines naturally produce low yields, and Vall Llach reduces yields even further through careful vineyard management for densely concentrated wines. Vineyards climb steep slate hillsides, receiving optimum sun exposure and beneficial water deprivation, further concentrating the fruit. Newer plantings of Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah add complexity to the old-vine character, and the resulting wines - Vall Llach, Idus, and Embruix - have received high critical acclaim.
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
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.