2021 Clos i Terrasses Priorat Laurel, Catalunya

The 2021 Laurel, the second wine from Clos Erasmus was produced with grapes from younger vines, between five and 40 years old, and is a blend of 80% Garnacha, 11% Syrah and 9% Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes were cooled down for 24 hours before sorting and destemming and then put in the vat where they warmed up and started fermenting naturally. They did a soft vinification with short pumping overs to avoid extraction, and the fermentation lasted two to three weeks followed by four weeks of maceration. The wine matured in oak vat, barrel and amphorae for 18 months. It's super aromatic, floral and expressive, clean and elegant, delicate and ethereal. It has a velvety palate that is nicely textured, seamless, elegant and balanced and with a focused, clean, long finish. I see the meaty side of Syrah here. It has 14.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.3. The oak is completely integrated despite the fact that the wine is very young. 28,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2023.

The beautiful vineyard of Solanes—4.7 hectares located in El Lloar and planted in the Natural Park under the cliffs of the Serra de Sant Pau—is coming into production. With that, Daphne Glorian has close to 26 hectares, mostly in Gratallops, and she bought a large vineyard in Manyetes from René Barbier. She's made a white from three hectares there, but they still don't know what they are going to do with the red grapes—they might contribute to the Laurel red or be bottled separately.

She was very happy about 2021, about which she told me that "after 2019 and 2020, which were pretty much in line with what we expect in the Priorat in terms of climate, generally warm and dry, 2021 was a complete outlier. Sixty centimeters of snow in January, followed by regular rains during the growing season, make it a 'cold-climate' wine. The wines are delicate, flowery, with strong acidity and tremendous aging potential. We also got volumes we had not seen since 1997, around 23-24 hectoliters per hectare, thanks to good conditions at the time of flowering."

96 points Luis Gutiérrez robertparker.com

Clos i Terrasses' Laurel is a distinguished red wine from the Priorat region in Catalonia, Spain. Established in 1989 by Daphne Glorian, Clos i Terrasses has been instrumental in revitalizing Priorat's winemaking heritage. The estate practices biodynamic viticulture, emphasizing sustainable and organic farming methods to produce wines that authentically express the unique terroir of the region.

Laurel is crafted from a blend of approximately 75% Garnacha, 20% Syrah, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine undergoes fermentation with native yeasts in a combination of oak, concrete eggs, and clay amphorae, followed by aging for 16 to 18 months in 20-hectoliter French oak tanks, concrete vats, neutral 228-liter French oak barrels, and clay amphorae. This meticulous process results in a wine that is both powerful and elegant, with a harmonious balance of ripe berries, spice, and herbs, complemented by a touch of smoke