SideTrip: Powerful Priorat

I may have mentioned in the past that there are times when you sip a wine and are instantly reminded of what makes this farmer's labor special. 

At its core foundation, wine is a beverage; an agricultural product blessed by nature and coaxed to a higher form of being by an artisan we call winemaker.  It's not homogenous. It's not the same mass produced product that exists with no differences from year to year. It's unique and it has the ability to transcend and inspire. My niece often asks me: "Uncle John, why do you love wine so much?" One day soon I'll hand her a glass of something as special as this, smile, and say "This is why."

The 1997 Clos Erasmus Priorat is among Spain's most expensive red wines. From a wine region that scantly existed just 20 short years ago, this collectible nectar is a blend based largely in Old Vine Grenache; Garnacha in Spanish.  It is among the best wines I've tasted all year. 

Decanted for 60 minutes, the wine is a dark brooding blackish red in the decanter. The aromatics rising for the wine are so intense and explosive, they seemingly grab you and pull you closer to appreciate them. Rich, crushed, perfectly ripe wild black fruit, mocha, leather, tobacco, graphite, the list is seemingly endless. Each swirl, each sniff, brings something new.  If the aroma was amazing, the palate matches the intensity of the nose every step of the way. Rich waves of fruit cascade over your palate with espresso, earth, tobacco, savory herbs, smoke, shale and richly proportioned masses of fruit that are assertive yet elegant and balanced wonderfully amid the tertiary accents.  This is just nothing short of mind blowing and it's the type of wine that you will remember tasting for the rest of your life.  So that, my dear niece, would be why. Conservatively, 98 points. Likely, $150-$200 if purchased today. Luckily for me, I acquired this bottle in  satisfaction of a wager. I only wish I had more. 

 

~ A Wine of Towering Elegance & Complexity ~

 

E vero!