Mas Martinet Clos Martinet 2017, DOCa Priorat, Spain

The wines of Priorat are today Spain’s most mineral, elegant reds. They are equals of the best that the French Mediterranean and Italy produces. It is a wild region, of steep, terraced vineyards that date to Roman times. Its typical terroir is composed mainly of ragged and broken slate (schist, or llicorella in the Catalan dialect), lending distinct character and finesse to the region’s best wines. Clos Martinet is made every year using grapes from different vineyard plots in Mas d’en Martinet’s private estate located within the “Vi de Vila” (Village wines) of the Gratallops area. ‘We de-stem the grapes and put whole berries along with their very ripe stems from the Grenache (50% of total stems!) in the fermenting vats. Exclusively indigenous yeast fermentation is a long process, with regular very soft, cap punch downs every two or three days’. The result is a fresh, elegant wine with a long finish which spends 21 months in wooden vats (70%) and new 300L barrels (30%) based on our search for expressive, honest, mouth-filling wines. 2003 vintage: Opaque purple in color, it has an expressive nose of vanilla, scorched earth, plums, black cherries, and blueberries. Medium to full-bodied, on the palate it is nearly seamless with light, ripe and well integrated tannin. The finish is long and pure. Give this elegant Priorat 1-3 additional years of bottle age and drink it over the following 10.