Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Drive for One Hundred: 2006 Barranc Dels Closos

Continuing the drive for 100 different varietals I picked up a white from Northern Spain. The 2006 Barranc Dels Closos, a white wine from Spain's Priorat region, is a blend of 50% Garnatxa Blanca (Grenache blanc), 30% Macabeu (Macabeo/Viura), 17% Pedro Ximenez, and 3% Muscat. Very pretty, with honeyed green apple, melon, white flowers and butterscotch on the nose, not dissimilar to southern French whites. Smooth and luscious, with crisp green apple and a nice bitter persistency, this elegant white hid the alcohol well and paired very nicely with edamame and cheap California rolls. I always think of big Spanish reds when I think of Priorat so this was a nice surprise - perhaps less of a surprise once I realized this came from Mas Igneus, one of Priorat's most celebrated houses. Bravo!
cork. 14% alcohol
Score: 17/20
Price: C$21.80 (SAQ)

PS - Mas Igneus's wines are organic. I frequently taste organic wines, but I usually forget to mention that - I will expand the list soon.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Good board!

Joe said...

Gràcies Manel!

Unknown said...

This white Priorat is really great, thank you. Just to remember you 2 items:
-There's an ancient tradition in Priorat in doing white wines, it's not recent.
-The "northern spanish region" is Catalonia. I can't imagine you saying "the norhtern english region", in refering to Scotland!. So, it's the same; I'm sure you'll understand. In addition, Catalonia is one of the most important wine makers zones in Europe.

Unknown said...

This white Priorat is really great, thank you. Just to remember you 2 items:
-There's an ancient tradition in Priorat in doing white wines, it's not recent.
-The "northern spanish region" is Catalonia. I can't imagine you saying "the norhtern english region", in refering to Scotland!. So, it's the same; I'm sure you'll understand. In addition, Catalonia is one of the most important wine makers zones in Europe.

Joe said...

Hi Daniel - thank you for your comments, and I look forward to more Catalonian white wines.