Gratallops 2020

Racy and elegant perfumes of red and blue berries, vivid strawberries, crushed violets and minerals with hints of five spice that build up on the nose, which is very attractive, enticing and layered. The medium-bodied palate is taut and juicy, with seamless tannins. Supple but also linear, with a long, ethereal finish. Sheer enjoyment now, but hold for another two or three years for additional complexity.

There were Mediterranean notes of aromatic herbs, aniseed and fennel in the nose of the 2020 Gratallops, the village wine that this year changes to a Burgundy bottle. It's a blend of 87% Garnacha, 12% Cariñena and 1% white grapes, Garnacha Blanca, Macabeo and PX. It has good, contained ripeness and 14.5% alcohol with good freshness and moderate acidity. They used 15% full clusters for the fermentation, which was increased in 2021. 10,522 bottles and some larger formats were filled in April 2022.

Definitely Garnacha with its red cherry aromas, though the blend also includes 12% Cariñena and 1% white varieties. The palate is supple, alive with plenty of flavour, spicy brambly notes and a vivid lift of citrus, the cornerstone of the structure, on a mineral, slate finish. A village, Vi de Vila, wine which gives a clear flavour of nine parcels clustered around the village of Gratallops. 11,400 bottles produced (typically 20,000). Sarah Jane Evans MW