2007 Masperla Priorat

I had wine for dinner tonight. There is a nip in the Orlando air (tonight’s low is 38 degrees, practically arctic for Central Florida) and I was in the mood for a big red. Tonight’s Priorat perfectly fit the bill…

Priorat is a pretty famous wine region in Spain specializing in garnacha (grenache) blends. Grenache just may be my favorite wine grape, juicy, sexy and with just enough tannin and body to keep you interested without bowling you over. If you like Priorat wines (as I do) you’ll no doubt be aware that as the fame of the region grows, so do the prices. Imagine my surprise upon stumbling upon the 2007 Masperla Priorat at Costco for $17. Since my favorite Priorats usually retail at twice that amount, I grabbed a bottle and hoped for the best.

I was very happy I did. The 2007 is now 6 years old and it is just beginning to show a hint of age. Still relatively purple in the glass, the nose started with plums and black cherries. As the wine opened up,  earth, leather and smoke came out, making this wine quite complex for such a price and just delicious. The tannins are full, but relatively soft, and the fruit is luscious and lovely. Quite a steal for the price and a great wine to have for dinner. The only fault I found was in the use of oak. The smell held a hint of vanilla candle, usually a signal to me of toasting of the barrel or the use of American oak, neither of which is my favorite, and left the finish just a touch hot. A small negative compared to all the positives this wine had to offer.

So what did I serve to accompany my wine? If you’ve read my blog so far you know that I do enjoy cheese with my wine so I picked up a lovely Comté (the french cousin of Gruyère) a Great Lake Cheshire (creamy and grassy against the nutty and more complex Comté) and two Cheddars, an American Clothbound and a English Clothbound so I could do a comparison.

They make look similar, but the four cheeses on this board taste strikingly different.

Add crackers, fruit and an assortment of dry-cured hams (speck and lomo specifically) and you’ve got a dinner that would be awesome on its own, even better accompanied by a full-bodied red. I’ll be heading to Costco to pick up another couple bottles of Masperla, I have a feeling it won’t be there long.