TN: 2000 Mas Martinet Viticultors Priorat Clos Martinet (Spain, Catalunya, Priorat)

WINE TALK
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  • 2000 Mas Martinet Viticultors Priorat Clos Martinet - Spain, Catalunya, Priorat (6/14/2009)
    Pop and pour, this showed well after just a few minutes and has continued to do so for ~4 hours. A touch more oak showing than I would like, but not offensive and no bitter notes and no drying tannin – just a bit of spice and sweet vanilla. While the palate is relatively seamless and the wine is integrated and drinking well, this lacks the detail and minerality of the 01 or 04 and, to be honest, feels a bit like the component grapes don’t fit together quite perfectly. Still a nice bottle with copious sweet blue and black fruit, slate, roasted earth, dust, meat notes. A hint of cedar. Drink up over the next 3-4 years I’d guess.

I do think that Martinet made a large step forward with the 01 vintage, and 01 and 04 are their strongest vintages (haven’t had 05 or 06 yet).

Posted from CellarTracker

My take away at the end of the night is that they would perhaps be better served to back off the inclusion of grapes other than Grenache / Carignan a touch… I am taking a wild assed stab in the dark guess here, so be warned: I think that there might be Cab Sauv in the blend that didn’t ripen well and is contributing a hint of green / pyrazine that seems out of place in a Priorat wine, thus the feeling that the components of the blend don’t fit together just right. I noticed the same characteristic in the 98 to a greater degree. Perhaps this was something that was evolving and starting in 01, Sara did a lot better, at least to my tastes.

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I nearly forgot I had about 1/3 of a bottle left from this (just corked and left on the counter in our cool climate). This is actually improved tonight over last. More aromatic, more mineral, better integration (less of a sense of Cabernet poking out). This is my only bottle but I would think it should drink well for several years to come, and it makes me think that in about 3-4 years the 2001 Clos Martinet should be dynamite. I recall thinking of similar timelines for my other favorite 01’s – Mogador, Doix, Rotllan Torra. Should make for a banging horizontal in 2012 or so.