Home Winners > Winners 2019 > SPAIN: Catalonia (including Priorat)

Winner Details

 Spain: Catalonia, Including Priorat

2019 GOLD: 1      SILVER: 3      BRONZE: 3      COMMENDED: 2
2018 GOLD: 4      SILVER: 5      BRONZE: 0      COMMENDED: 4

This is rarely a section of the Sommelier Wine Awards dripping in medals. The most medals we’ve ever had here is 14, which isn’t that many given how much wine comes out of Spain’s north-east corner. Nor does it typically fill up many spaces on the Gold List. Our record was four, last year, and we were nowhere near that this year.

It’s a bit odd, not least because the feedback from the first-round tasters was a lot more positive than what we ended up with from the second round of judging. The problem, perhaps, was the ‘readiness to drink’ (or not) of the Priorats. The region’s star reds didn’t get past Bronze, with our only Gold going to a chunky Empordan old-vine Carignan/Cab.

FROM THE TASTING TEAMS

‘These were super-exciting. What’s distinctive here is that despite being a relatively hot region, so the wines have intense fruit, they also have a lovely freshness. That balance is their USP. A few wines here would really offer a point of difference to a wine list.’ Sarah Jane Evans MW, team leader

‘These were beautiful wines, and there was good variation, too, with a variety of different styles. It’s an area that’s improving, and developing a lot. Some of the wines were outstanding, with a lot of potential to age, which is a good sign.’ Beatrice Bessi, 67 Pall Mall

‘This was a fantastic flight. You’d look for full-bodied but well-integrated, oak-aged styles of wine from places like Priorat, and some excellent value from Penedès, and we were finding them here.’ Charlie Carter, Ten Green Bottles

Award winners

Found 9 wines

Spain: Catalonia, including Priorat

Oliveda, Furot del Monestir 2014, Catalonia, Spain

Gold medal winner

‘Bravo!’ said Tatiana Mann of The Vine Eno Gastropub, ‘this is extremely gastronomical’, before going on to describe this clear Gold medal winner as ‘such a clever wine – it’s a big, warm-climate wine but so fresh and juicy, with minty notes and tobacco’. Team leader Sarah Jane Evans MW described it as ‘rich’ and ‘plump’ and thought it was ‘balanced by bright vibrant acidity’. She summed it up as ‘long, young and lovely’. For Charlie Carter of Ten Green Bottles it had ‘lifted, lovely dark fruit aromas’ with ‘lovely fruit complexity on the palate veering toward red cherry’ and ‘lovely oak integration with silky tannins’.

£17.05 Oliveda S.A

Casa Mariol, Garnatxa Negra, Terra Alta 2017, Catalonia, Spain

Silver medal winner

Suave Wine’s Joseph Lunn found ‘an expressive nose’ with ‘honeyed sweet spice’, while the palate was full with ‘warming primary fruits, a good spicy mouthfeel and a nice sense of balance’.

£9.10 Top Selection

Casa Mariol, Syrah Reserva, Terra Alta 2013, Catalonia, Spain

Silver medal winner

Finding much to enjoy here, team leader Sarah Jane Evans MW noted: ‘Rich, fleshy palate with green herbs and some grassiness; it’s well balanced and on the elegant spectrum; this feels fresh, juicy and lifted.’

£11.42 Top Selection

Raventos de Alella, Pansa Blanca 2017, Catalonia, Spain

Silver medal winner

‘Very citric, full of lime and grapefruit – nicely easy drinking,’ said Sexy Fish’s Roberto Sanchez. ‘Zesty and fresh and good value for money. A lovely match for fish or oysters and mussels,’ said La Trompette’s Virginia Fontò.

£9.20 Berkmann Wine Cellars

Gratavinum, 2πr 2016, Priorat, Spain

Bronze medal winner

Juan Manuel Marcos Perez of The Gilbert Scott noted ‘mature, farmyard aromas’ that mingle with ‘notes of baked fruit’ and lead to a ‘tannic, powerful, black fruit palate’.

£21.37 Top Selection

Ca N'Estruc, Xarel-lo 2018, Catalonia, Spain

Bronze medal winner

‘Good value for money and a nice aperitif’ was the verdict of La Trompette’s Virginia Fontò, while team leader Carlos Ferreira thought it had ‘quite a tropical palate with notes of melon, pineapple and peach’.

£8.95 Boutinot

Franck Massard, Humilitat 2015, Priorat, Spain

Bronze medal winner

This brought an intriguing ‘medicinal note to the nose with herbal hints of dried rosemary’, said Juan Manuel Marcos Perez of The Gilbert Scott, adding: ‘The red fruit character has fairly high alcohol but it’s integrated and has a good long finish.’

£16.16 Enotria&Coe

Parés Baltà, Indigena Negre 2017, Penedès, Spain

Commended medal winner

£13.27 Top Selection

Oliveda, Joana Rigau Ros 2017, Catalonia, Spain

Commended medal winner

£17.05 Oliveda S.A