One could say that we are practicing\n\u2018inclusion\u2019 here. This is an exceptional\nwine and an amazing value that deserves serious attention. But at a time when the wine world is filled\nwith panic selling because of a number of current pandemic\/economic reasons,\nand there are enough wild offers to fill the airwaves for the foreseeable\nfuture, a wine like this little gem has much less of a chance of getting the\nattention it deserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First off, the name is both foreign and\nunfamiliar. The name Edetaria Terra Alta\nVia Edetana Negra doesn\u2019t just roll off tongue. \nIt comes from a somewhat obscure appellation called Terra Alta, south of\nPriorat and Monsant and arguably less highly regarded as <\/em>a region. As much Spanish wine as we work with, even we<\/em>\ndon\u2019t see a lot of stuff specifically from this appellation, and most of what\nwe do is rustic, closed, and requires extensive aeration and patience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Edetaria Terra Alta Via Edetana Negra 2017<\/a><\/strong> is a notable exception, the proverbial \u2018needle\u2019 in a \u2018haystack\u2019 that few people bother to even sift through.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t it be easier for us to find someone panicked to unload a Cabernet at half price?\u00a0 Sure.\u00a0 There\u2019s plenty of that going around these days, and we will do more than our share.\u00a0 But that is exactly the point.\u00a0 A wine like this a year ago was a stunning deal, and still holds its own even in the current tumult.\u00a0 Down the road, when all of this uncertainly subsides and things return to normal (however that will be defined), wines like this will still be exceptional value choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joan \u00c0ngel Lliberia grew up here,\nstudied Agricultural Engineering in Lleida and earned a Master of Science in\nWine Management, whereupon he worked at several wine companies in France. He moved back to Catalunya, where he\ncontinued his career in the wine sector and later on multinational corporations. But his dream come true was to establish this\nwinery in central Tierra Alta as an homage to his grandfather oenologist\nLlorens and viticulturist parents . \nThe goal is making true terroir wines out of his family vineyards in a \u2018genuine\nstyle\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The story is relatively simple because\nthese folks are all about the land which was already there. Winemaking in this part of Catalonia predates Roman times (the name of\nthe winery is a reference to an old Roman road that stretched between Torotosa\nand Zaragoza). \nThey keep<\/em> it simple by farming organically and fermenting the\ngrapes from the varied soil types separately, giving them 12 months in 300\nliter barrels and then blending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The blend here is 60% Garnacha Fina and\nGarnacha Peluda, 30% Syrah and 10%\nCari\u00f1ena from 20 to 40 year-old vineyards in different terroirs: The Garnachas and Syrah come from soils they\ncall \u201ctap\u00e0s\u201d (silty soils with clay materials), and Carignan from \u201dtap\u00e0s blanc\u201d (shallow\nsoils with marl carbonated fragments). \nThe unique soils really suit the Grenaches and the cool, expressive dark\ncherry character is the highlight of the show. \nThe Syrah adds muscle and some blue fruits, and the Carignane dashes in\nsome earth tones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The wine shows great purity of fruit\nwith the impression fluctuating between a kinder, gentler Priorat and something\nfrom the northern part of the southern Rhone. The 2017 was one of a string of excellent\nvintages in this part of Spain,\nand this wine\u2019s layered, juicy, cool flavors and tender-but-bright demeanor\ndeliver far beyond the sub-$20 fare. We\nhave tasted a lot of wines from this part of the world and few are this\n\u2018together\u2019, clearly demonstrating the character of the region in an open,\nengaging way, but doing so with the polish of a serious, boutique label aimed\nat discriminating buyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n James Suckling took a shine to this one\nas well, writing \u201cI love the licorice accents here, which work so well with the\novertones of blueberries, citrus, boysenberries and brambles. Firm and tight on\nthe taut palate, which is medium-bodied and so lithe and restrained. Clear-cut\nand precise. Drink now… 94 points.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Like we said, it would be easy for a wine like this to get lost in the shuffle of the here and now.\u00a0 But it would also be a shame.\u00a0 This is a soulful, personality-filled effort at a great price, and the kind of delicious, off-the-beaten-path find everyone needs in their life.\u00a0 The flash deals of today won\u2019t last forever and this is a potential friend for the long haul. There’s also a small amount of their expressive all-Grenache Edetaria Via Terra Garnatxa Negra Terra Alta 2018<\/a><\/strong> (James Suckling 92, $11.98!).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One could say that we are practicing \u2018inclusion\u2019 here. This is an exceptional wine and an amazing value that deserves serious attention. But at a time when the wine world is filled with panic selling because of a number of current pandemic\/economic reasons, and there are enough wild offers to fill the airwaves for the … Continue reading “OFF-THE-BEATEN-PATH VALUE GEM”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[37],"tags":[9,703,53,32,704],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3662"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3662"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3665,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3662\/revisions\/3665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}