B-21's B-Blog

Priorat rocks: Geology you can taste

Too much terroir talk is of rainfall, heat-degree days, angles of slope, fogs and breezes. Oughta be more on terra that underlies it all, dirt and rocks. Don’t say soil; unlike most farmers grape growers never brag about fertile ground. They love to pick up big rocks and boast of granite or clay. The harder the vines work, the richer the grape. No grapes work harder than those in Priorat, small rocky terrain between Barcelona and the coast, so dusty and rugged Clint Eastwood could have made Catalan Westerns in the boulders. It’s hard to navigate a car or tractor but rugged grape vines have fought through stacks and stacks of solid slate and schist for centuries to find water. When they do, the Grenache and especially the Carinena (Carignane, but don’t tell the snobs) make rich juice with a distinctly slaty character. Great stuff as B-21 explorers found this February once they got past Rioja and Ribera. Tiny Priorat is the next big thing and already one of the most dear because of the difficult growing and farming and low yields . The texture and taste isn’t quite blackboard, more like the licorice of childhood, black and long lasting, both smooth and chewy. Exhibit No. 1 was the 2006 Mas Doix Doix ($109.99), a grand mountain ram of a wine, bold, elegant and gamy, red and black berries pressed almost to membrillo paste, earthy and candied. Half carinena, it makes Sr. Parker swoon with memory of grand cru Burgundy and a number like… 97.  The more affordable Salanques (the 2006 is only $29.99) was more Rhonish and longer on Grenache but you still taste the rocks and the sap of the old vines, lots of berries, full and happy in the mouth with a sleek finish. Priorat’s brimming with small exquisitely rugged vineyards today, and B-21 has two dozen not including the grand Mas Alta range (formerly known as Mas Romani). 

Yet you can start your climb more easily with the 2007 Black Slate, a new “village Priorat” from Porrera at $17.99. This is still rich drinking, old vines with blue-black berries, dense and almost sweet.  At all levels, Priorat is not tinto for tapas; slaughter the fatted calf, bring in the young lamb and the oldest ham. Priorat is also at the heart and start of our trusted European Cellars of Eric Solomon. The ancient rocks and vines there were revitalized by a Gang of Five smart Spanish winemakers 20 years ago. One of them Daphne Glorian, introduced Eric Solomon to Priorat with her Clos Erasmus and eventually married him.

- Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler

Tags: Chris Sherman, spain, spanish wine