2015 Ferrer Bobet Priorat Vinyes Velles

Ferrer Bobet was founded in Priorat in 2002 when Sergei Ferrer-Salat and Raul Bobet decided to make wine from old vine Carignan and Grenache in Porrera. Ferrer-Salat is a well-known Barcelona restaurateur and Bobet is an experienced winemaker. Their goal was to create Priorat wines that reflect the terroir of the appellation, and they have succeeded. Their first commercial vintages met with acclaim from wine reviewers. Their 2010 Priorat Seleccio Especial won Decanter Magazine’s award for the top Priorat of 2013. And Wine Advocate noted that “Ferrer Bobet is the future showplace of Priorat.” The estate’s two wines are its Seleccio Especial, usually 95% Carignan from 100-year-old vines and 5% old vine Grenache, and Priorat, which is old vine Carignan, Grenache and a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon.

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.