2005 Sara Pérez y René Barbier Gratallops Partida Bellvisos Magnum

When Rene Barbier brought the abandoned very old "coster" (steep-sloping traditional Priorat vineyard) back into production it was thought that they had bought a plot of Carinyena (Carignan) ... and to their great surprise they discovered that 40% of the plot consisted of Garnatxa Peluda (native Grenache). This grape ripens for the Carinyena (Carignan) and gives more freshness. Coincidence and luck because it is the last piece of the puzzle that one needed to transfer the balance of Bellvisos.

The 2005 year is a very special one because it comes from the private collection of Rene and Sara. As Rene himself can explain better, his opinion is that the Partida Bellvisos wines benefit from a long aging. In our frequent conversations with Rene Barbier, he personally thinks (and Sara confirms this even more strongly) that his wines are actually always drunk too early. He indicates that it is economically necessary to release the wines annually, but in his heart he would much rather release the wines after at least 5 years. Sara is even more adamant about this, and believes that the wine critics' drinking window (and points) is looked too much and too often. Despite the fact that all their wines always receive very high ratings, if it were up to Sara, she would much rather not participate in this circus and it creates too many label and points drinkers instead of wine lovers and connoisseurs. Rene and Sara therefore come up with a 2005 Partida Bellvissos that he will only release commercially after 20 years. He has only bottled these in magnums and with this he wants to prove to wine lovers that his wines only become more beautiful with maturation / aging. As an importer, we have received a handful of magnum bottles from this 2005, so it is an absolute collector's item and will only be on the market in 2025 in a somewhat larger edition (but only a few hundred magnum bottles because there is no production). All this to prove with 'facts' that this wine is beautiful(er) and very much alive after 20 years.

The Gratallops Partida Bellvisos Magnum is a dizzying wine with a long maceration that needs oak and time in the bottle to be reborn, fine, seductive, fresh and powerful ... in which the Llicorella (slate bottom) has inextricably shaped the wine. Like all vintages, this 2005 is concentrated because the yields were small and the wines tight. The 2005 Grattalops is a blend of Garnacha and Carinena from vines an average of 65 years old. It matured for 12 months in French oak. Dark ruby colour, it shows a bouquet of crushed stone, scorched earth, lavender, espresso, black cherry and plum. Full-bodied, in the mouth it has excellent volume, fruit layers, excellent grip and a soft personality. This wine has great character, great acidity and fine minerality, with a clean, highly focused finish and so has only seen the cellars of Clos Mogador for over 15 years.