WTN: Priorat Usatges 2004 – Costers del Siurana (Pastrana & Jarque) – Alc. 14.5 – (€16) – made from Garnatxa, Cariñena, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Tempranillo and matured for 1 year in Limousin, Allier and Nevers twice used barrels.
After trying this wine at a tasting, I wrote that the wine needed several more years. I am glad that that I did not re-read that note until just now, because it might have discouraged me from choosing this bottle. I am not now convinced that this view was correct for my palate.
C: Deep red.
N: Fairly subdued, particularly at first, but with gentle development of black currant liqueur and light tobacco aromas.
P: Medium-full bodied, dark fruit and good substance, less sweet, more mineral and austere than most Grenache dominated wines, good tannic structure (less brooding than without food), similar aromas to the nose with some additional complexity notably some herbs and spice and an additional tarry liquorice element which supported the clean and adequately long finish. Two addition positives were a direct frankness on the palate and the discretion of its high alcohol content (both Germaine and I would have guessed about 13%). With little experience of Priorat, I wonder whether further bottle age and opening up might not lead to more jammy textures and boiled sweet (bonbon) aromas which I don’t greatly like. Meanwhile I like this quite a lot; 16/20.
(NB: This is an entry level Priorat. The importer’s wine list http://www.labuenavida.be/search.php?ac ... arch&lng=2 contains one costing more than 10 times as much and I believe that the Palacios Ermita goes for many times more than that. It is quite possible that I may prefer a relatively unsophisticated offering like this to many of the more ambitious, richer and more wooded cuvées.)
This note has been cross-posted from the Grenache/Garnacha Open Mike.