2015 Terroir al Límit Vi de Coster Pedra de Guix, Priorat, Spain

Green capsule (Vi de Coster or equivalent of 1er Cru wine).Very limited.  

This is one of the most mineral sculpted whites - it tastes as if the wine was tapped directly from pure rock (which of course it was). Forget about how rare white Priorat is, Pedra de Guix gives the great whites of the world a run for their money. 

It is a blend of three varieties from three villages: Poboleda (on schist) provides the Garnatxa Blanca, Torroja (on alluvial soils) the Macabeo and the chalky/gypsum soils of El Lloar gift the Pedro Ximénez. The old vines in these sites are between 50 and 78 years old. The grapes were gently basket pressed over the course of several hours, and the juice begins its fermentation in tank before being sent to old, neutral 500-litre French oak barrels for 12 months and then, finally, another 12 months in large Austrian oak foudres. Finally, there is a component of a perpetual blend, started in 2013, that is added to the mix. The wine is bottled unfiltered. Obviously a step up in power and complexity, this is a wine that really benefits from decanting. It’s super fine across the palate but also with good weight and texture and notes of preserved lemon, brown spice and a marked, iodine, oyster shell-like character on the long, driven finish. Super classy, delicious and unique wine.

‘The white 2015 Pedra de Guix is a blend of one-third each of Pedro Ximénez, Garnacha Blanca and Macabeo from old vines on different soils and different villages. There is always a touch of skin contact and some controlled oxidation in the whites here, as it gives them character. The whites here also have the structure to stand up to food—they are more food wines than refreshing whites, even if they are fresh. This is ripe and open but very precise, and it seems to have better delineation. The palate is dry and shows some austerity. It has beautiful flintstone notes and a salinity that give it freshness and character. For Dominik Huber, it's a wine that shows a side of Priorat that is not easy to show with reds.’