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Wine Description
The Story
The wine is a tribute to the monks of the valiant Carthusian order who arrived in what is now the Priorat in 1095 and began growing grapes. In 1835, a violent mob destroyed the work of a lifetime and plundered the Carthusian monastery. These events later culminated in the disentailment under Mendizábal. In 1996, the Torres family began planting vineyards on hillsides rich in slate stone known as llicorella.
Appellation: DOQ Priorat
Blend: Cariñena and Garnacha
Soil: The Central Priorat has soil known as llicorella, which is unique to the area. It consists of dark slate layered with quartzite. The soil is poor and volcanic in origin, giving the wines a strongly mineral character.
Winemaking: 60 days skin contact followed by 20 days alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel tanks with skin contact at 30°C.
Ageing: 36 months
Vine age: 80 years aprox.
Tasting notes: Intense nose with predominance of dried fruits (raisins, apricots and figs). Significant hints of jammy, plummy dark fruit. Also notable are aromas of aromatic herbs (thyme and similar) reminiscent of Mediterranean forests. The bottom note is spicy with nuances of liquorice, cocoa and cinnamon. The mouthfeel is ample from the start, dense and opulent. Halfway through, the tannins make their appearance, enhancing the sensation of concentration. The wine’s long and fresh finish comes from the prominent acidity that gives contrast and balance to the whole.
Serving suggestions: Perfect as an aperitif paired with blue or creamy cheeses. Also a good match with duck confit. Truly surprising when combined with either chocolate coulant or mousse or with wine poached pears.
Vintage 2019
Excellent Vintage in Rioja – the ratification of the qualification as 'EXCELLENT' of the 2019 vintage, a milestone that had not occurred since 2011!
After a vegetative cycle with optimum ripening of the grapes, in recent months extraordinary results have been observed in the evaluation of the fermentation tanks, from which the Council's technicians have collected more than 4,500 samples, which have subsequently been tasted by a panel of 150 professionals.
Pablo Franco, director of the Control Body of the Regulatory Council, took stock of the 2019 campaign, referring to the excellent health and vegetative situation of the vineyard and the state of the bunches, loose, well aerated and accompanied by the moderate vigor of the plants. In Franco's words "the year was marked by the stability in the evolution of the vineyard, not exempt from certain very local incidents produced by meteorological phenomena of little general importance".
Regarding the resulting wines, the director of the Control Body of the Council highlighted their quality, underlining the extraordinary maturation in tannin: “a round and very silky tannin that has marked red wines since their elaboration, which is very pleasantly surprising for manifest itself now and especially for having these sensations in wines with a high polyphenolic load such as this year, where the IPTs define a marked structure, with intense colors. In turn, it is worth highlighting the consolidation of lighter tones in the color of rosé wines, with a predominant aromatic expression towards more floral notes. White wines are very expressive, highlighting their great volume on the palate, in line with what is seen in reds. The commitment to autochthonous varieties and the great evolution of the quality of their elaborations is also valued ”.
In the words of Pablo Franco, “there is no doubt that, according to the behavior of the vineyard and in turn what was discovered in the wines, the 2019 vintage is‘ THE harvest ’. A vintage that reflects the true mastery of time management by winegrowers and winemakers ”.
It should be remembered that the amount harvested in the 2019 harvest was around 385 million kg of grapes (of which 342 were red grapes and 43 were white grapes) and 267.27 million liters of the 2019 harvest obtained the certification as wines protected by the DOCa Rioja (22.11 for white, 12.50 for rosé and 233.08 for red).