Merum Priorati - Priorat Desti 2018
Tasting notes
Intense dark-cherry red in colour with a garnet rim. Complex on the nose with aromatic notes of red fruit, especially raspberries and redcurrants, spicy tones and a backdrop of cassis. It gives a balsamic taste across the palate, with hints of sloe and pomegranate. Elegant and silky, it is well balanced with sweet, rounded tannins that lead to a smooth, lingering finish. The perfect match for wood-fired roasted turbot with potato gratin, cured ham, also ideal for accompanying grilled red meats.
Estate
Merum Priorati is one of the most important wine estates in Priorat, founded in 2004 by two Catalan families, and located in the east of the appellation around the pretty village of Porrera. The three vineyard plots (Les Foreses, Plana Marjot and Les Escomelles) cover a total of 103 hectares, but just 29ha are given over to vines, as this is one of the wildest, most rugged terrains where few vines thrive and those that do produce less than 1 kg of grapes per vine (and as low as 250g per vine for the older Garnacha and Cariñena plants). Vineyards here are not measured in hectares, but by numbers of vines planted, due to extreme terracing and contours on these stunning mountainsides. There isn't what you'd call soil more just a carpet of broken black slate called Licorella. Five grape varieties still manage to thrive here on the estate: Garnacha, Cariñena, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Impeccably made but not over polished, wines are truly hand-made: fermentation is in small, open top vats with long cuvasion, delivering wines which are intense and seriously complex against a backdrop of bright and vibrant modern fruit.
Technical data
Ages of vines 13–20 years
Yield 3,800 kg/ha
Bottles produced 10,500 bottles
Alcohol content 15.5% vol
Total acidity (tartaric acid) 5.7 g/L
Residual sugar 0.5 g/L
Winemaker: Roger Oferill
Yield 3,800 kg/ha
Bottles produced 10,500 bottles
Alcohol content 15.5% vol
Total acidity (tartaric acid) 5.7 g/L
Residual sugar 0.5 g/L
Winemaker: Roger Oferill
Vinification
All the harvested grapes are destemmed, led to macerate and fermented at a controlled temperature in stainless-steel vats. After three weeks with manual pumping over, grapes are gently pressed using a pneumatic horizontal press and are devatted by gravity. Once pressed, the wine is transferred to 500 l medium toast barrels, new and of second use. After malolactic fermentation, the wine ages for 18 months in the same barrels, after which it is blended and bottled. DESTÍ is neither filtered nor fined and evolves in bottle for a long period of time before being released from the winery.
