2006 Bodegas Mas Alta Priorat La Basseta

Bodegas Mas Alta was founded in 1999 by Michele and Christine Vanhoutte and renowned French winemaking consultants Michel Tardieu and Philippe Cambie. The estate’s 90-acres of vineyards are in the Priorat appellation, where Garnacha and Carignan thrive. The estate also grows Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Some grapes are sourced from local vineyard owners. The Bodegas Mas Alta blends are primarily old growth Grenache (Garnacha) and Carignan. Reviewers have frequently awarded the wines ratings in the mid-90s. The estate is part of a renaissance in Spanish winemaking that is prompting both Spanish and foreign wine entrepreneurs to establish new wineries that marry the old vine grapes of the region with modern, quality-focused winemaking.

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.