Sometimes, you fall in love with a place and then subsequently become a fan of the wines from that place. Four years ago, that could have been the case for me with the Priorat region of Spain. But the oysters that I ate two days before in a fishing boat off the Galician coast had other plans for me, and I didn’t make it to Priorat. The reverse process has had to apply: I still have not visited the rugged, forsaken Priorat region, but I am a fan of it anyway, because I have fallen in love with its powerful wines.
My current flames are the wines of Ricard Pasanau, whose family has farmed vineyards in Priorat since the 13th century, and in 1995 built a modern winery there. Of the three Priorats that his winery, Cellers Pasanau, makes, Finca La Planeta) from a 2400 foot-high, seven-acre vineyard planted predominantly in the early 1980s) is his flagship wine. La Planeta yields 13,000 bottles of wine each year, an 80-20 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and old-vines Grenache. Poor soils, many hours of sunshine and a long, dry growing season restrict the vines’ productivity and concentrate the grapes’ flavors.
The 2002 Finca La Planeta is a huge wine but beautifully balanced. It is jam-packed with aromas and flavors–dark, sun-baked fruits, earthy mineral character, dried herb notes–all extremely concentrated. It has a sublime silkiness of texture, despite its considerable amount of fine tannin. Its finish is wonderfully full, echoing the ripe richness of flavor that you notice first on the nose, and then in your mouth.
Because Pasanau’s vineyards are situated high in the interior of the Priorat zone, they are less influenced by the Mediterranean than those from vineyards elsewhere in the zone; day-night temperature variations are more distinct, for example, the weather is dryer and the gravelly scree from the Sierra de Montsant overlays the region’s typical llicorella slate soil. (The gravelly soil is one reason that Pasanau decided to feature Cabernet in the Finca La Planeta vineyard.) As a result, his wines are less Mediterranean in style than most other Priorats, and show a bit less herbal nuance and more purity of fresh fruit. In the great 2001 vintage, for example, Finca La Planeta has amazing precision and finesse for a wine so powerful. The 2002 is richer yet and softer, a more corporal wine for more immediate pleasure.
I debated whether to recommend the 2001 Finca La Planeta or the 2002–and in fact, I endorse both vintages. But the 2002, which is now coming into the market, is so pleasurable that it offers something that most top-end Priorats don’t, namely approachability. You can enjoy this wine tonight–perhaps with lamb, grilled steak, sausages, or hard cheeses, because it is by no means a casual quaffing wine. The 2001 will probably endure longer in your cellar, but if you’re like me, you already have a cellar full of enduring wines. Time now for something endearing!
At $40 a bottle, Pasanau’s Finca La Planeta is one of the great values in Priorat, offering first-rate quality for a mid-category price. Another great value is Pasanau’s $34 “La Morera de Monsant” Priorat, a Grenache/Cabernet/Merlot blend (62/24/14) that has wonderful elegance and lightness of hand–ironically, a Bordeaux-like Priorat, although based on Grenache. For straightforward dense, dark fruitiness, Pasanau’s younger “Ceps Nous” Priorat is only $20.
Of course, there is a hidden cost. If you love the wine enough, you’re going to have to pay for the plane ticket to visit the region.
92 Points