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VS
Notes: Only 12 six-packs of this rare and incredibly delicious wine
were allocated to Colorado, and we have been told we’ll get at least a
few of those, which will arrive in a few weeks. As the importer said,
the 2004 vintage is, and I quote, “friggin’ spectacular,” end quote.
That this wine was not reviewed by the Wine Advocate is something of a
relief – there will be less of a stampede, and we got more that just a
tenth of our requested number of bottles.
In past vintages, I have loved this wine – it is a delicious modern
wine, showing loads of plum, oak, cinnamon and berry characteristics.
I’ve not yet had the opportunity to try this one, but I have no doubt
that the 8 friends who produce this (including Rene Barbier, and Daphne
Glorian of Clos Erasmus) have made another stunning wine. For those of
you who were not able to get any Erasmus, for example, this is a very,
very delicious substitute. The vines are from 60-80 years old, and are
95% Carinena, 5% Garnacha, aged in large French oak barrels for 20
months. (2002 vintage: AEM 4.0+)
Importer Notes: “In September, 2001, La
Vinya del Vuit (the vineyard of the 8) was created in Gratallops by 8
friends. Centered around the winemaking couple of Rene Barbier Jr. and
Sara Perez, the group took advantage of the extremely old vines on
these schist-filled hills to create this new and exciting enterprise.
They currently produce only one bottling of extremely limited
quantities. “The terroir of the Priorat should be looked at in a
Burgundian context, with each of the historical villages having
slightly different soils producing different styles of wines. However,
the one common theme that draws them all together is the presence of
schiste (licorella in Catalan) which helps form these craggy hillsides.
The vines are planted on slopes and are often steeply terraced, making
for difficult work and extremely low yields. “The climate is
Mediterranean and the summers are quite warm. Harvest is always by hand
at this tiny estate and is carried out only in the early hours of the
morning. The grapes are taken to the winery in small refrigerated
trucks. There is an aggressive winery triage before a portion of the
grapes are crushed. Fermentation starts naturally using only indigenous
yeasts and may take up to a month in 500 liter, open-top tanks. The
grapes are then crushed again before being racked (only by gravity)
into French oak barrels for ageing.” Eric Solomon
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3.00 |
Retail Price: $74.99
On Sale For: $59.99 |
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