Costers del Priorat Petit Pissarres 2020
- Decanter
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Aromas of red fruits and Mediterranean forest open to orange flowers and ripe summer peaches on the palate. This red wine is fresh and balanced showcasing the accessible character of a thirst-quenching Mediterranean red wine.
Blend: 60% Garnacha, 40% Samsó
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
A lovely fruit forward wine with sour cherry, toffee apple and crunchy acidity. The palate is intense, deep and vibrant, with plenty of character with savoury and spicy finish. A very approachable wine where the oak is balanced and acidity on the finish invites a second glass.
Other Vintages
2016-
Wine &
Spirits
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Wilfred
Wong
The wines of Costers del Priorat emphasize nuance and elegance over power, a philosophical departure from the strong, tannic wines that once defined Priorat. The blended cuvées, Petit Pissarres and Pissarres, paint a broad picture of the landscape, while the single-vineyard wines, Clos Cypres and Clos Alzina, showcase the individual microclimates of this diverse appellation.
Costers del Priorat was founded by several partners bound to the land. Starting with a small parcel planted in 1934 in Bellmunt, Costers del Priorat now owns 25 hectares in four villages. Winemaker Jose Mas Barberà, the leading force of the winery, sees a new vision for the region focussed on village-specific wines from old vines, transmitted with clarity and grace.
The majority of his plantings are carignan (samsó) vines, including his two most important sites, Clos Cypres and Clos Alzina. This once-maligned ancient grape is now viewed by many as the ideal variety for this extreme landscape. Carignan can withstand the extreme temperature fluctuations and drought conditions of the region to produce wines of exceptional aromatic complexity. All of this comes in an incredibly delicately packaged structure. Jose achieves this elegance by allowing the wines to guide their evolution without ever forcing their trajectory.
By utilizing only yeast from the vineyards for spontaneous fermentation and placing the wines in a multitude of vessels that allow air exchange, Jose achieves power through elegance. His exploration of amphora, cement, demi-muids, and large foudres is the key to unlocking the minerality of these wines. This philosophy is the opposite of “one size fits all” winemaking. Animal traction is used to work the soil on the steep terraces. The winery is practicing organic, only using natural organic and biodynamic treatments and never any chemicals
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.