This is a picture of the Montsant area though it looks more verdant than I remember sentimental favorite as it's the winery visited by me, Francie and Max on our 2007 (or was it 2008?) trip to Spain for a week of lectures at the Univ of Navarra in Pamplona. We took a couple of days in Barcelona (wonderful as advertised) and took a nearly random detour to see Priorat, not knowing much about the area. Turns out to be one of the great newer wine regions of the world, revivified by a group of 5 or 6 Frenchmen who replanted the area about 1 hr south and a bit west of barcelona with mostly french varietals. The area had once been a big wine center but had fallen into disuse for decades if not centuries. Well it turns out the vines love the dry, hot climate and rocky, hilly soil. We'd had a 2002 Clos Mogador Priorat in Barcelona (at the great Abac restaurant) and loved it, so I guess we thought visiting Priorat would be fun. We got there on a SUnday and only one restaurant was open, a pizza place. THe food turned out to be excellent and varied, and they served us a 2004 Mogador that was even better. We asked the owner of the restaurant, who was as friendly as she could be, if any vineyards might be open for taste/tours and she called her friend Rene Barbier--theowner of Mogador. He arranged for us to visit a separate property: Laurona. THis is located in the next village (they're all tiny), Montsant, also capable of making outstanding wine though not quite in the league of Priorat (which meansw priory, and of course it used to be a place where friars made wine for the church).
So, this '04 greats us with a wonderful soft nose that concatenates cabernet, merlot and grenache (the wine is 50% grenache, 15% syrah, 25% Merlot, 10% Cab Sauv). It spent a year in french oak. I get plum, cherry, a bit of herb a la eucalyptus, a kind of melon and a bit of mocha and hazelnut. (Hazelnut has been the predominant product in this region since the wine dried up so many years ago; now of course wine is booming in the area.) Beneath this you get the barest hint of the cabernet currant nose and taste. THe licorice is present on the nose, from grenache, syrah and cab? Max says he got slate, a kind of minerally component that I find as well though not as strong. THe palate is totally mature; there's acid and fruit and just a hint of soft tannin. The finish is moderately long with the plum predominant. Wonderfully soft and silky on the palate too. This is 90+ wine. It will drink well for another 3-5 years but I'd think it'll be past its prime by 2016.
Parker (Jay Miller) is a bit more optimistic giving it 91 points: The 2004 Laurona is composed of 50% Grenache, 25% Merlot, 15% Syrah, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Inky purple-colored, it offers an expressive nose of toasty oak, spice box, black cherry, black raspberry, and black currant. This leads to a medium to full-bodied wine with loads of sweet fruit, excellent concentration and depth, and a firm structure. It will evolve for 3-4 years and drink well through 2020.
Tanzer 87 points: Ruby-red. Ripe cherry and plum aromas are complicated by cinnamon, clove and musky underbrush. Deeply sweet, with weighty kirsch and plum flavors, supple tannins and a lightly roasted character. Finishes chewy and ripe, with good length. I'd like to have found more freshness, though.
Spectator 84 pts!
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