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Roureda Llicorella - Classic 2020

Blend
0% Garnacha
0% Mazuela
0% Merlot
Country
Spain
Region
Catalunya
Appellation
Priorat
UPC
7 57410 03052 2
Red Wine
98097-20
Product Ratings
James Suckling 90pt

A blend of garnacha and carinyena that delivers aromas of dried herbs, strawberry liqueur and touches of cedar and figs. Full-bodied with berry character, firm, cedary tannins and an exuberant finish.

by James Suckling, 2024

Tasting notes

Deep cherry red color with purple reflections, with aromas of black fruits, vanilla and toasted almond. The mouth is round and potent, concentrated with hints of marmalade and cocoa. Persistent aftertaste, elegant and balanced with fine nuances from the ageing process.Due to its characteristics this wine hasn’t been filtered.

Appellation

1 of only 2 Spanish DOQ. Today the Qualified Designation of Origin DOQ Priorat is one of the world’s most prestigious wine-producing regions. It is unique. It is sublime. It is pure magic. DOQ Priorat is located in the centre of Catalonia, in an unpopulated and inhospitable area.

The vines grow in poor, rocky soils. They are planted on mountain slopes, in terraces at an altitude of between 100 and 700 meters above sea level. Most of the land in Priorat is composed of silica slate, known by the locals as “llicorella”, and it is the llicorella that gives Priorat wines their unique character. Average production per vine is often less than 1 kg, and this confers excellent properties upon the grapes, which become pure gold in the hands of a good winemaker.

Description

Llicorella Classic is gripping. It calls you. We couldn’t have done it anywhere else but in Priorat, blending grapes from our low-production vines in the villages of poboleda and gratallops. Taste it, you’ll feel in heaven.

Tiny and entirely composed of craggy, jagged and deeply terraced vineyards, Priorat is a Catalan wine-producing region that was virtually abandoned until the early 1990s. Its renaissance came with the arrival of one man, René Barbier, who recognized the region’s forgotten potential. He banded with five friends to create five “Clos” in the village of Gratallops. Their aim was to revive some of Priorat’s ancient Carignan vines, as well as plant new—mainly French—varieties. These winemakers were technically skilled, well-trained and locally inspired; not surprisingly their results were a far cry from the few rustic and overly fermented wines already produced.

This movement escalated Priorat’s popularity for a few reasons. Its new wines were modern and made with well-recognized varieties, namely old Carignan and Grenache blended with Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. When the demand arrived, scarcity commanded higher prices and as the region discovered its new acclaim, investors came running from near and far. Within ten years, the area under vine practically doubled.

Priorat’s steep slopes of licorella (brown and black slate) and quartzite soils, protection from the cold winds of the Siera de Monstant and a lack of water, leading to incredibly low vine yields, all work together to make the region’s wines unique. While similar blends could and are produced elsewhere, the mineral essence and unprecedented concentration of a Priorat wine is unmistakable.