2002 ‘Etim’ Syrah, Monsant DO, Agricola Falset-Marçà
Appearance: dark purple to black, clear rim.
Nose: very ripe black cherry and blueberry nose with lots of oak. No indication of the black pepper that Syrah tends to show in cooler climates. But this DO would hardly qualify as a cooler climate. Might be mistaken for a New World wine on the nose but there is also a tart smell here behind all the ripe fruit.
Palate: ripe fruit, lots of oak, medium chewy tannins, surprising amount of acidity and quite good length. Doesn’t quite hold together but is certainly very drinkable. Improved with aeration and is obviously one worth decanting.
Conclusion: this wine comes from the bottom of the main hill of the Priorat area. As John Radford reports in The New Spain: ‘There had been talk for a long time of splitting the former Tarragona-Falset sub-zone away from the large DO Tarragona, and in 2001 it finally happened’. Radford goes on to explain: ‘Falset (the main town) is […] in a kind of mountain valley, with the Serra to Montalt rising […] in the southeast and the foothills of the Serra de Montsant in the northwest rising […] toward Priorato’. Garnacha – or Grenache – is very much the feature of Priorat, but this wine was interesting to taste because it’s not often that you come across a straight Spanish Syrah – or any Spanish Syrah. I liked it and would think the wine-making has got better since 2002.
Rating: 16.5/20
Appearance: dark purple to black, clear rim.
Nose: very ripe black cherry and blueberry nose with lots of oak. No indication of the black pepper that Syrah tends to show in cooler climates. But this DO would hardly qualify as a cooler climate. Might be mistaken for a New World wine on the nose but there is also a tart smell here behind all the ripe fruit.
Palate: ripe fruit, lots of oak, medium chewy tannins, surprising amount of acidity and quite good length. Doesn’t quite hold together but is certainly very drinkable. Improved with aeration and is obviously one worth decanting.
Conclusion: this wine comes from the bottom of the main hill of the Priorat area. As John Radford reports in The New Spain: ‘There had been talk for a long time of splitting the former Tarragona-Falset sub-zone away from the large DO Tarragona, and in 2001 it finally happened’. Radford goes on to explain: ‘Falset (the main town) is […] in a kind of mountain valley, with the Serra to Montalt rising […] in the southeast and the foothills of the Serra de Montsant in the northwest rising […] toward Priorato’. Garnacha – or Grenache – is very much the feature of Priorat, but this wine was interesting to taste because it’s not often that you come across a straight Spanish Syrah – or any Spanish Syrah. I liked it and would think the wine-making has got better since 2002.
Rating: 16.5/20
Labels: 2002, Agricola Falset-Marca, Monsant, red, Spain, Syrah
posted by Wine Dragon
at
18:09
