2020 Espectacle del Montsant

The top wine from Rene and Christian Barbier (including the maker of the famous Clos de Mogador and Manyetes). Just outside the Priorat, this masterpiece is made from 120-year-old Grenache grapes located in La Figuera on the northern edge of the Montsant DO. An intense wine in color and taste. Decant and aerate, but then...... the powerhouse emerges: ripe fruit, floral notes such as roses, violets. Soft and fresh, complex, long drinking. So beautiful! A maximum of around 5,500 bottles of the Espectacle are made. The absolute top range of the Espectacle is very limited and these are distributed all over the world. Only the most beautiful fruit, the most beautiful (and most expensive) oak are used for this wine and the production method is solely focused on quality, with a selection taking place down to the level of the grape (the berry). It is not surprising that this wine always receives between 96 and 100 Parker points.

The vineyard is located at an altitude of about 800 meters in the shape of an amphitheater with stone terraces. Biodiversity is the magic word here: in addition to grape plants, you will find fruit trees, olive trees and local native shrubs. The grape plants, some of which are eighty to a hundred years old, grow on a slate surface. Slate is a poor and hard soil condition whose main property is that it generates high acidity in the grapes. The location of the vineyard on slopes in a northeasterly direction towards the sea ensures that the nights are very fresh. Because the temperature in that location during the day in summer is usually thirty degrees Celsius, this means that there are large temperature differences. This ensures that colorants and tannins accumulate in large quantities in the grape skins and that is a sign of quality. The grapes are grown biodynamically, with attention and respect for the plant and the natural conditions, and all work on the land is carried out by hand.

The grapes are picked manually and several runs are made to pick and only the grapes that have the optimal phenolic ripeness are harvested. After picking, the grapes are cooled for more than 24 hours at a temperature of 4ºC and then the second selection takes place and only the very best bunches continue to the next step. The grapes are then destemmed and a selection takes place again at berry level and only unsuitable grapes (too ripe, too green, etc.) are removed. What remains from this strict selection process is now very lightly crushed and starts its fermentation in very refined French oak (QUERCUS PETRAEA) and several times a day the must is stirred and pumped over to get the optimal extraction. This maceration process lasts no less than 5 weeks, after which the wine is allowed to mature further in French oak of the most beautiful type (Barbier chooses very fine-meshed oak - quercus petrea oak) which are the most expensive barrels available) and then the wine matures around the 16 months on this beautiful elegant oak. After this, the bottles are left to mature for around 8-12 months before the wine is released.

FACT: In the 'Attachments' tab you will find the official fact sheet of this beautiful wine. We will send this to you automatically when you order this wine. The wine is stored in our conditioned Wine Warehouse and if you pick up the wine you will often receive a nice discount. You will see your discount immediately when you choose 'Collect' on the checkout page. We are located in Dordrecht with plenty of parking. Click here for our address.