A bright, refreshing Garnacha from Catalunya, Spain, from just €8.60, £15.53, or $176.76 per dozen.
Ever since going there in 2002 I’ve had a soft spot for Montsant in the south-western corner of Catalunya in the hinterland of Barcelona. Curled round the much more famous Priorat, it qualifies as one of my precious underdogs (see Ferran’s 2014 article Montsant – half-price Priorat? and his notes from a blind tasting of what was available then).
Like Priorat, Montsant is usefully high and exposed to the garbinada, the cooling afternoon breeze from the Mediterranean. All it lacks is Priorat’s llicorella, glinting darkly and inspired by schist, but what it does have is granite, associated with especially refreshing wines.
This is what drew Pep Aguilar and Patri Morillo (seen, left to right, above with their colleague Josep) to Montsant after years advising wine producers all over Spain. Their aim? To communicate this freshness in unadorned form (no oak) in a series of simply labelled wines.
They have established themselves on an estate outside the town of Falset (seen in the distance above) based on the Mas d’en Cosme homestead in which, to their surprise, they learned that Nehru and his daughter (later Indira Gandhi) stayed when they visited the troops in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War.
On their rather charming website they declare themselves #nonconformist and #loyaltothesoils. ‘This is our plan. We are passionate about granite and we have been really successful with it! Garnatxa Negra (Red Grenache), Garnatxa Peluda (Downy Grenache), Carinyena (Carignan) and the small amount of Syrah (Shiraz) we have planted all naturally help!’
I came across Celler Comunica, Vi del Mas 2021 Montsant at a tasting of UK importer Les Caves de Pyrène’s Spanish portfolio. I tasted four of their wines, including the rather winning Garnacha white blend La Pua with its orange-peel finish. But my favourite was this pure blend of dark-skinned Garnacha with a little Syrah grown on granitic sand with a bit of limestone. My tasting note, taken at this very demanding tasting, was short but to the point: ‘Mid crimson. Fragrant and chock-full of rather arresting fruit. Complete and well-balanced blend.’ I gave this 14% wine (Grenache needs full ripeness) 16.5/20, marked it VGV for very good value, and suggested drinking it between 2023 and 2027.
Les Caves have already run out of the 2021 and are now selling the 2022, which I had a chance to share with Nick over dinner the other night. ‘It tastes really healthy, doesn’t it?’ was his unsolicited comment. The 2022 is a real charmer, the sort of light-bodied red you could enjoy at almost any temperature. It’s not a candidate for long-term cellaring but should bring a smile to any face.
My tasting note on Celler Comunica, Vi del Mas 2022 Montsant, which is just 13.5% alcohol:
Full bottle 1,333 g
Pale garnet. Very pale rim. Nose of warm strawberries and delightful freshness on the palate with a little fine minerality on the very end. This is not a furrowed-brow serious wine but it could not be more direct in its appeal. Low tannins, lots of sweet, honest fruit on entry and pure, appetising tingle at the end. A bit lighter than the 2021. But a very satisfying clean, medium-length finish.
I gave it 16.5/20, too, and suggest drinking it from now until 2026.
The 2022 is available online from Les Caves de Pyrène at £15.53 (or from their shop outside Guildford) and also in the UK from The Good Wine Shop (which also lists the 2021) and The Wine Scouts in London. In Spain the 2022 is widely available from just €8.60 – a crazy price, but then so many wines in Spain seem underpriced to us foreigners.
In the US the 2021 is still available from Saratoga Wine Exchange at $176.76 a dozen. The 2020 vintage is available for a song from Empire Wine and Grand Wine Cellar in New York State. In Canada, the 2021 is available through Cosecha Imports. According to Wine-Searcher the 2019 can be found in Matisse Wine Bar in Napier, New Zealand! I haven’t tasted either of these vintages but at the prices they are offered they are surely worth a punt for those who appreciate unadorned authenticity in their wines.
Vi del Mas may translate as ‘house wine’ in Catalan. Sign me up.
See also Ferran’s 2014 article Montsant – half-price Priorat?