SPAIN: Catalonia, Including Priorat

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Winner Details

2017 Gold: 1 Silver: 9 Bronze: 4 Commended: 6
2016 Gold: 2 Silver: 1 Bronze: 3 Commended: 6

Overall, this was a pretty good competition for Catalonia. Fourteen medals and six Commendeds was a record number of awards. Surprisingly, however, the large number of Silvers didn’t translate into an equally sizable number of places on the Gold List: just one wine and, even more surprisingly, it was white not red.

If you had to sum up the reason in one word it would be ‘tannin’. Many of the reds had power, pedigree and concentration, but they simply weren’t ready to drink yet – and wines like that invariably end up at Silver rather than Gold level in the Sommelier Wine Awards. But if you have a cellar and an understanding accountant, fill your boots.

FROM THE TASTING TEAMS

‘The sweet spot for the whites was in the £8-£12 area, which is only about £30-£45 on a list – a very key area. All these would be a hand sell – even the white Priorats – though the latter are delicious and can be a really good value for money.’ Laura Rhys MS, team leader

‘Explaining [the whites] accurately is a challenge. We often had split panels here, which shows that often it’s a stylistic rather than a quality issue.’ Mike Best, WSET

‘The reds were a mix of fruity, juicy styles and more gamey, complex wines. I expected a lot of high-alcohol wines, but these weren’t out of balance.’ Olivier Marie, team leader

‘I think Spain is one of the most dynamic winemaking countries in Europe at the moment. Some of these were trying too hard, but others ticked all the boxes.’ Christopher Delalonde MS, Bleeding Heart Group

‘There were some quite different styles here. An interesting contrast between traditional winemaking relying on extraction and oak, and more delicate, food-friendly styles. There was a nice sweet spot around £10 that delivered real value for money.’ Hamish Anderson, Tate Catering

‘This flight had lovely consistency – delivering for the price and giving Spanish character.’ Laurent Richet MS, team leader

Award winners

Found 20 wines

Spain: Catalonia, including Priorat

Uvas Felices, Ca N'Estruc, Idoia, Blanc 2014, Catalonia, Spain

‘Nutty, savoury and toasty, a wine with real intrigue,’ began Mike Best of the WSET of this Gold winner, taken with its style and individuality. ‘If you’re looking for something different, this wine will keep on giving and developing in the bottle, and what a great match for pork chops with sage,’ he concluded. Team leader Laura Rhys MS also noted ‘mandarin orange and citrus, nice weight, bright, juicy and herbaceous’, with Quentin Loisel of Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms thinking it ‘complex and elegant, with pear and apple, as well as guava and custard apple’.

£11.45 Boutinot

Viladellops, XXX, Xarel-lo 2014, Penedès, Spain

‘Spicy and medicinal, a special wine with nice freshness, and definitely for food,’ began team leader Laura Rhys MS, with Giuseppe Longobardi of The 3A Pub Company enjoying its ‘buttery nose, citrus on nose and palate, with rich evolution in the mouth and white peppery notes on the end’.

£16.05 Albion Wine Shippers

Merum Priorati, Ardiles, Priorat 2014, Catalonia, Spain

‘Really juicy on the nose,’ began Adam Michocki of Chez Bruce, who found it ‘very intensive in flavours, the fruit quite jammy but it maintains some bracing acidity on the palate’. Consultant sommelier Rebecca Coates liked its ‘blueberry and bramble aromas, with a sweet, ripe palate, and soft tannins – very approachable’.

£12.48 Boutinot

Perelada, Finca Malaveïna, Empordà 2013, Catalonia, Spain

Richard Allen of Adam’s Restaurant found ‘cassis on the nose, very jammy with lots of fruit on the palate to accompany the rich body’, while Adam Michocki of Chez Bruce noted its ‘pure and precise flavours of blackcurrant jam’.

£19.50 Barwell & Jones

Perelada, 5 Finques, Empordà 2013, Catalonia, Spain

An ‘aromatic and expressive wine’, said Agustin Trapero of Avenue, who found ‘fresh red fruit with great crushed rock minerals, smooth palate and a fine finish’, while team leader Laurent Richet MS picked up ‘notes of raw almonds and roasted pine nuts, a fun wine, intense and young’.

£12.50 Barwell & Jones

Gratavinum, 2πR 2011, Priorat, Spain

Adam Michocki of Chez Bruce found it ‘full bodied, with proper structure, expressive fruit flavours with a meaty, gamey finish’, and Richard Allen of Adam’s Restaurant noted a ‘herbal nose, grippy tannins, and intense, meaty palate’.

£20.02 Top Selection Ltd

Acústic Celler, Ritme, Blanco, Priorat 2012, Catalonia, Spain

‘A wine for a somm to show off with,’ began Mike Best of the WSET, explaining: ‘Has bold, creamy, smoky flavours, is nutty and peachy, full of complexity, wild herb notes and a bright, saline character with great length driven by integrated high acidity.’

£13.40 Bibendum

Tomàs Cusiné, Auzells, Costers del Segre 2015, Catalonia, Spain

‘Interesting, a wine with real personality and vibrancy,’ began WSET’s Mike Best, with The Sign of the Don’s Carlos Ferreira highlighting its ‘floral, salty, white grape juice aromas with fresh apple and lemon on a well-balanced palate’.

£11.40 Bibendum

Franck Massard, Humilitat, Priorat 2012, Catalonia, Spain

‘Nice, full fruit with notes of chocolate and darker spices, with complex, tertiary characters on the palate,’ said Adam Michocki of Chez Bruce, with ETM Group’s Guillaume Mahaut enjoying its ‘concentrated, velvety palate, with lots of fruit and some lovely rose petal’.

£16.60 Enotria&Coe

Mas La Mola, Priorat 2012, Catalonia, Spain

‘Dark plums and prune notes, meaty and savoury character, complex and balanced, this will be a great wine for drinking when it’s been in the bottle for 10 years,’ said team leader Laurent Richet MS. ‘A foodie wine above all,’ added Richard Brooks of Caroline Catering, ‘with lots of ripe flavours and interesting complexity.’

£19.69 Liberty Wines

Cara Nord, Mineral del Montsant 2014, Catalonia, Spain

‘A juicy, modern style, showing a fresh, lifted nose with some oak, fresh plum and blackberry all underpinned by a lovely grip of earthy tannin,’ said Tate Catering’s Hamish Anderson, concluding: ‘Excellent.’

£9.90 Boutinot

Parés Baltà, Blanc de Pacs 2016, Penedès, Spain

Team leader Laura Rhys MS found this ‘zesty, bright and fresh with aromatic character and some spiciness on the finish’, while WSET’s Mike Best felt it would be ‘perfect with summery, simple grilled white fish and buttery sauces’.

£8.85 Top Selection Ltd

Can Ràfols dels Caus, Terraprima, White 2015, Penedès, Spain

The Sign of the Don’s Carlos Ferreira found ‘citrus fruit and a little saltiness on the nose, oliy texture with stone fruit and good acidity on the palate’, while Giuseppe Longobardi of The 3A Pub Company noted ‘green and citrus fruitiness, nice minerals and a tropical finish’.

£9.20 Indigo Wine

Can Ràfols dels Caus, Gran Caus, Tinto 2008, Penedès, Spain

Tate Catering’s Hamish Anderson enjoyed its ‘wild nose of lavender and spice, followed by an uncompromising palate with bright cherry and lots of tannin’, continuing: ‘Long, complex and intriguing, this needs food and will make you revisit the glass.’

£13.54 Indigo Wine