Spain: Catalonia, Including Priorat
2016 Gold: 2 Silver: 1 Bronze: 3 Commended: 6
2015 Gold: 2 Silver: 4 Bronze: 5 Commended: 5
Spain’s north-east has a wide range of styles on offer from unchallenging ‘Sunday driver with Phil Collins on the CD player’ to ‘full-throttle, high octane, rubber-burning drag racer’. As such, it can be a tricky area to judge for our tasters, who often aren’t quite sure what they are looking for.
But it produced a similar performance to last year, with two good Golds and some interesting extra medals a bit further down the price scale. When it gets it right there’s no question that it can add something a bit different to the Gold List.
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘I didn’t expect any medals from the whites to be honest, but there were medals at the top end – and they still offered good value for money. They all had good definition and purity, profundity and depth.’ Oliver Marie, team leader
‘All the whites were in a bigger style, but some were very aromatic, and some were much more mineral.’ Jonathan Kleeman, Social Eating House
‘These are individual, enjoyable wines that people could fall in love with for their original character. People punish this area for having too much oak, but it was very nicely handled. These are modern wines not traditional Spanish wines.’ Sarah Jane Evans MW, team leader
‘The whites were my best flight of the day. It’s a very interesting style.’ Aurélien Constant, Galvin La Chapelle