Sign In

2009 Vicente Gandia Xibrana Crianza

Not Currently In Auction

Latest Sale Price

January 8, 2023 - $5

Estimate

RATINGS

WineBid Tasting Team

Deep garnet color with ruby rim; solid clarity and full body. Tones of plum, blackberry and earth. Spice tones of clove and allspice and vanilla/cedar hints. Pairings: Roasted meat/game, braised short ribs, chateaubriand, roasted duck.

Winemaker

Smoky nuances of crushed stone, lavender, leather, black cherry and cranberry. Elegant on the palate with layers of flavorsome fruit, good depth and concentration and a long finish.

REGION

Spain, Cataluna, Priorato

Priorat in southern Catalonia is one of Spain’s newer regions for quality wines. With only about 2,500 vineyard acres, it is not one of Spain’s larger appellations, and its rocky mountains and hillsides make for challenging vineyard management. But grapes have been grown here in the rich, volcanic soil since at least the Middle Ages, when Carthusian monks planted vineyards. Bulk wines were the main focus here until the late 1970s, when pioneering Spanish winemakers Alvaro Palacios and René Barbier replanted vineyards and vastly improved winemaking in the region. Clos Mogador, Clos Erasmus and Finca Dofi were some of the now much-admired wineries started in the later decades of the 20th century. By the 1990s many innovative, quality-focused wineries were started in Priorat, making it one of the hottest winemaking regions in Spain. Priorat was made a DO in 1954 but upgraded to the prestigious Demoninación de Origen Calificada, or DOCa, in 2000. (In Catalan, the regional language, the appellation abbreviation is DOQ.) Full-flavored, full-bodied wines with relatively high alcohol content are characteristic of Priorat, with Garnacha (Grenache) and Carinena (Carignan) being the traditional grapes.