TN: 2001 Vall Llach, Priorat

TN: 2001 Vall Llach, Priorat. I have found a number of Priorats that I laid down when the fad was emerging to have ended their lives in a disappointing, “meh.” This one may be big but it is quite tasty and surprised to the positive side for me. Deep and spicy (!) black fruits on the nose. And then menthol. It’s a pleasure model in the mouth with minerals in the back. It’s really a fun date with a dumb, hot blond (of your preferred sex). The key is that there is nothing out of balance, which is a problem for a lot of Priorats imo. It’s not overly complex, but it wins its way through life with balance and pleasure. I could see myself tiring of it after the second glass, but those first two go down real easy. One of the better Carignan dominated wines I’ve had. I see no real rush, though I would not expect further improvement. $60. 91 points.

Thanks for the notes.

I never bought any Priorat, but I’ve had a few from the late 90s and early 2000s that had cracked up by the late 2000s – too much alcohol and VA. Glad to hear that some are still motoring along smoothly.

Yep, this one is a exception in my experience.

BTW, John, I’m back in NYC permanently. We should pull corks at some point. [cheers.gif]

I have just a few. I better research them.

Absolutely! Glad to hear that!

So funny/not so funny story about the 01 V-L for me…

Back when this was released, I went to Garnets up at 68th/Lex and bought some of this, and its little brother the 01 Embruix. There were only a few on the shelf, but I didn’t clean them out or anything. $60ish at the time for a Spanish wine felt like a lot. I go to the cashier to get rung up, and they ask if I want these delivered, since I lived maybe 10 blocks/3 aves away at the time. I agree, and they put all the bottles in a cardboard case in front of me, and I leave thinking nothing more of this. (I usualy did this all the time with Garnets - shop in person but have them deliver to my doorman).

I get home some time later, the box is waiting for me, and I take it upstairs and inspect it. The 2001 Vall Lach is no where to be found. Instead there is now an extra 2001 Vall Lach Embruix in the box. I call up Garnet and they claim that is impossible. I insist it got switched out. I ask them to send me another and I’ll just buy the extra Embruix that arrived. They say they can’t do that since they are now SOLD OUT of the Vall Lach. In the space of an hour or two. I somehow over the phone get them to credit me the difference between the Embruix and its flagship. I called around and ended up picking up some at PJ’s up on the far UWS for the same price I think. After that, I hand carried home any unique bottles if I was getting an assortment from them as I don’t think what happened was an accident, but who knows if it was a customer or staff who pulled the switcheroo.

And I mostly agree on the notes. I don’t think it aged/developed as well as I would have hoped. It was a good/solid wine but I thought it was going to be excellent. At least all the Embruix (consumed young) were quite nice. I’ve hardly ever bought Prioratos since that era, maybe stopping by 2004, even though my adequate local Costco has been carrying the Embruix off and on for the last 3-4 vintages at $20/per. I just glide by…

The wines back in the 1990s and early 2000s were still in an experimental stage. They didn’t know how any of them would age, most were expensive in comparison to many other wines, and the grape blends were in flux. And I wasn’t a fan in those days - we did a tasting of the 1996s at ten years and felt they were all best at around six years old.

But they’ve improved subsequently. Also, the critics aren’t all over them. They were a “discovery” by Parker and others back in the 1990s but now that’s sort of faded and the wine makers are just making the best wine they can. I was never a huge fan but I’ve had a few that were pretty nice. The one thing about those wines that made them stand out was that they retained a lot of acidity to balance the fruit, unlike some regions where things just got jammy. Maybe as a region they peaked too early with the critics.

I’ve found a number of the '01s that have improved substantially and are drinking great today. Among them are the Clos Martinet (which turned out to be a bit of a rock star…and was only about $30 at the time) and Clos Mogador. Among the others that did NOT age especially well are this one (Vall LLach) and also Rotllan Torra (both of which are “okay” but definitely not exciting).

Rotllan Torra was sometimes undrinkable. Agree with Martinet too.

Decided to pop a Priorat. 2008 Ferrer Bobet. I think it’s someone’s second label. Nice wine. Was probably a good time to open it.

Medium body, some nice tanin. Somewhat rustic. 15% alcohol not overpowering. Dark red cherries, some vanilla, clove, leather, chocolate, licorice. Great QPR.