Unusually for Finca Garbet, this is made from 100% Syrah (normally it contains some Cabernet). It’s a very impressive wine: wild and smoky, with freshness and minerality, well integrated tannins and a long, balanced finish. Very Syrah, with notes of iodine and liquorice and a firm finish. The only question mark is over the price.
Food Match: Cheese
2007 Mas Romeu Finca Malesa, Empordà
( E18, 14%, El Celler Petit )Thia is the personal project of Delfi Sanahuja, who makes the wine at nearby Castillo de Perelada. It’s an ambitious modern style with quite a bit of oak, but real freshness, vivacity and length. Minerally, zesty and well balanced with notes of spice, wild herbs, plum and red cherry fruit and medium weight tannins. Very stylish.
2008 Can Sais Expressio, Empordà
( E35, 15%, El Celler Petit )The price is certainly ambitious, but it’s matched by the scarcity (only 845 bottles made) and the very ow yields (less than half a kilo per vine). Marta Arenas’s pure Grenache is biodynamic and made without added sulphur. It’s a wild, complex wine with a faintly pruney note, sweet underlying red fruits and savoury tannins. It’s quite fragile, with a nod towards Pinot Noir, and a nip of volatility on the finish. Drink up as the tannnins are starting to dry on the finish.
2008 Sota els Angels Desea, Empordà
( E18, 13%, El Celler Petit )This is only the “entry point” wine from this new winery, but it still costs E18. It’s a biodynamic blend of Syrah, Merlot and Samsó, produced in a ripe, supple, fruit-packed style with lots of sweet, spicy blackberry fruit, aromas of incense and fresh herbs, subtle oak and a seamless integration of the three varieties. It’s lighter and fresher than it appears on the nose.
2009 AV Bodeguers Nereus, Empordà
( E12, 14.5%, El Celler Petit )Densely coloured, ripe, quite tannic and packed with structured red and black fruits. The wine isn’t subtle, but it’s certainly ambitious and made to last. Gutsy, with some spice, plummy, sweet fruit and grainy, yet firm tannins. The oak is a little drying on the finish.
2010 Lavinyeta Punt i apart, Empordà
( E12, 14.5%, El Celler Petit )There’s no mistaking the main grape here (Cabernet Sauvignon, to the tune of 85%), but it doesn’t taste like a Cab made anywhere else. The closest affinity would be with Tuscany (Bolgheri), but even that doesn’t quite express the wine’s personality. It’s a very polished wine, with well integrated, smoky oak, toasty, great structure, fresh acidity, dark fruits and a fine, savoury, minty finish. The Samsó adds a wild, appealingly rustic note. A bit of rough perhaps?
2007 Marti Fabra Masia Carreras, Empordà
( E18, 15%, El Celler Petit )The first thing you notice about this wine on the nose is the oak. And the impression doesn’t change on the palate. And yet there is a lot of wine behind the staves: a wild, herby, spicy, minerally red based on Samsó with a bit of Merlot for extra padding. I’d be tempted to give this some time in bottle, because it’s got wonderful freshness and minerality and a dense, complex finish. You don’t notice the high alcohol, although this is certainly a ripe style.
2008 Vinyes dels Aspres S'Alou, Empordà
( E24, 15%, El Celler Petit )Sourced from the oldest vines on the property, David Molas’ Grenache-based red is strongly marked by Syrah on the nose and palate. The granite soils and high altitude give the wine real freshness and minerality, despite the high alcohol. Perfumed, with violets and liquorice on the nose, sweet blackberry fruit, supple, grainy tannins and a lift of herbal spice.
2011 Oliver Conti Treyu, Empordà
( E7, 12.5%, El Celler Petit )It’s easy to judge the white wines from Oliver Conti too young, even this unoaked cuvée of Macebeu and Gewürztraminer. This combines perfume, spice, fresh acidity and a touch of grapeskin bitterness on the palate, underpinned by some creamy, lees-derived fatness. It’s an unusual wine, with the Gewürz adding some ginger spice to the Macabeu. Try cellaring it.
2010 Terra Remota Caminante, Empordà
( E15, 14%, El Celler Petit )One of the most exciting white wines in Empordà, made by French couple Marc and Emma Bournazeau from a blend of Garnatxa Blanca, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay. Deftly oaked, beautifully defined, with the three grapes stylishly intertwined. Honeysuckle, some spice, a dash of thyme and pear and long, granite-derived minerality. Right up there with some of the best white wines in Spain. An estate to watch.
2010 Marti Fabra Masia Carreras Blanc, Empordà
( E13, 14.5%, El Celler Petit )There’s clearly something special about the village of San Clement Sescebes (and not just as the place where lots of Spaniards did their military service) as it’s home to two of the region’s best producers (Terra Remota being the other one). This highly unusual blend of Garnatxa Blanca, Picapoll and Samsó (aka Carignan) is a big, umami-rich white with a dry finish, some tannin on the palate and masses of grip, density and flavour. A very serious bottle of white.
2005 Sinols Emporadlia Coromina, Empordà
( E9, 13.5%, El Celler Petit )An unusual wine: mature, unoaked Samsó (Carignan) that was fermented and aged in cement. It’s on the rustic side, with a hint of volatility, but there’s no denying that the wine is true to its varietal with chunky, slightly drying tannins but lots of gutsy personality.