Morlanda, Priorat (Catalonia, Spain) 2009

This wine from the Priorat region of northeastern Spain is a blend of Grenache and Carignan in equal parts.  The wine’s soft texture, slight jammy character and 14.5 percent alcohol most likely owe themselves to the Garnacha component, as do the red berry and black cherry aromas and flavors.  But the spine of the wine is the Carignan component, contributing gutsy tannin and compact structure.  The wine also shows lovely earthy and inky mineral notes.  This fine wine will probably improve over one to three years of additional bottle age, which should temper its tannins.