Lectores Vini, Priorat “Classic” For Discount

Lectores Vini, Priorat “Classic”

Today’s wine is an example of what I’d call “Priorat 2.0”—a fresher, more nuanced expression of this legendary Spanish region and its principal grape varieties, Grenache and Carignan (a.k.a. Samsò). This more buoyant style of wine is rapidly catching on in Priorat, which has long been known for much more lavish (and expensive) reds, and everyone here at SommSelect has excitedly jumped on the bandwagon. 

Most of us still have a different image of Priorat wine in our heads—that of a more luxurious, glossy style of red wine, one that is heavily extracted and incorporating lots of expensive new oak. The ’90s and early 2000s in particular saw the emergence of many cult labels whose spare-no-expense approaches racked up the scores and jacked up the prices accordingly; Lectores Vini partners Fredi Torres and Marc Lecha are going for something else, and it’s a welcome departure. Considering the conditions in Priorat, it’s not at all unrealistic to craft a wine of more modest proportions and heightened tension. Rather than make a massive “show” wine for the critics, Torres made one he would prefer to drink. I like to drink it, too, and at this price, I’ll be doing so repeatedly in the months ahead!

Having seen Priorat with my own eyes, it’s exciting to witness the stylistic evolution of the region’s wines. Lectores Vini appears to have discovered that when you strip away all (or most) of the makeup, there’s still a radiant beauty to be found in Priorat. Founded in 2016, this partnership is one of several wine projects Fredi Torres is juggling—he’s got a few in his native Galicia (Ribeira Sacra; Rías Baixas) as well as one in Empordà (Catalonia) and one in the south of France. Torres was a professional DJ for more than a decade before he jumped headlong into winemaking, studying enology and viticulture in Switzerland and working in Burgundy, Argentina, and South Africa before returning to Spain. He really epitomizes the new-generation ethos not just in Spain but all over the world: His priority is organic and biodynamic farming in the vineyards, followed by non-intervention winemaking in the cellar; all fermentations are spontaneous, using only the ambient yeasts that arrive in the winery on the grapes, and sulfur is added only in trace amounts at bottling. 

Located about 15 miles inland from the Mediterranean coastal town of Tarragona, with a climate best described as “harsh”—bitingly cold winters and dry, hot summers—Priorat is often described as an “extreme” terroir. Its vineyards are perched at high altitudes in distinctive-looking soils of fractured black slate and quartz called llicorella, and the earliest wine-growers to brave its rocky, terraced slopes were Carthusian Monks of the Scala Dei (“God’s ladder”) abbey. The name “Priorat” is Catalán for “priory,” in honor of those intrepid 12th-century monks. In recent years, Lectores Vini has acquired some choice Priorat vineyards of its own, including those that supply this bottling—about two hectares of terraced parcels spread across the villages of Torroja, Gratallops, and Falset. There is some granite in the soil in Falset, which Torres says helps maintain freshness in the fruit, contributing to the elegance of the wine.

Composed of 50% Garnacha (Grenache) 30% Samsò (Carignane), 10% Syrah, and 10% “other,” today’s 2018 really is a new and exciting sensation for anyone accustomed to unctuously rich, lumbering styles of Priorat. It is aged predominantly in stainless steel tanks (just 20% of the final blend aged in used oak barrels), which puts the focus squarely on the rich, ripe fruit, high-toned florals, and profound mineral imprint of the region’s distinctive soils. In the glass, it has the inky hue of a “typical” Priorat, shining a dense ruby-black moving to a magenta rim, but the aromas are bright and lifted and the palate lush but full of mouth-watering tension. The Grenache brings notes of cherry kirsch, strawberry, raspberry, and dried herbs, while the Carignane and Syrah add bass notes of roasted meat, toffee, licorice, and black fruits. Texturally, it is velvety but bright—there’s plenty of delicious fruit extract without being excessive, with a kiss of exotic spice and stony minerality on the finish. It is a plush and youthful red to enjoy now and over the next few years: Decant it about 30 minutes before serving in large Bordeaux stems at a cool-ish 60 degrees. This would make a fantastic wine for pairing with barbecue, with soft tannins and relatively modest alcohol (13.5%), so any spice-derived heat won’t be exaggerated. It’s a new-paradigm wine at a great price, and I, for one, can’t get enough. I’m certain you’ll agree. Cheers!