2022 Espectacle del Montsant

The top wine of Rene and Christian Barbier (among others the maker of the famous Clos de Mogador and Manyetes). Just outside the Priorat this tyrant 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 give air but then....... the powerhouse comes out: ripe fruit, floral tones such as roses, violets. Soft and fresh, complex, long to drink. So beautiful! Around 5500 bottles of the Espectacle are made at most. The absolute top but supply of the Espectacle is very limited and these are distributed all over the world. For this wine only the most beautiful fruit, the most beautiful (and most expensive) oak is used and the production method is only 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 gets between 96 and 100 Parker points.

The vineyard is situated at an altitude of around 800 metres in the shape of an amphitheatre with stone terraces. Biodiversity is the magic word here: in addition to grapevines, you will find fruit trees, olive trees and local indigenous shrubs. The grapevines, some of which are eighty to a hundred years old, grow on a slate subsoil. Slate is a poor and hard soil condition whose main characteristic is that it generates a high acidity in the grapes. The location of the vineyard on slopes in a north-easterly direction towards the sea ensures that the nights are very cool. Because the temperature in that place in the summer is usually thirty degrees Celsius during the day, this means that there are large temperature differences. This ensures that dyes and tannins accumulate in large quantities in the grape skins and that is a sign of quality. The grapes are grown biodynamically, so 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 by hand and multiple runs are made to pick and only the grapes that have the optimal phenolic ripeness are harvested. After picking the grapes are cooled for over 24 hours at a temperature of 4ºC and then the 2nd selection takes place and only the very best bunches go through to the next step. The grapes are then destemmed and then another selection takes place at berry level and only unsuitable grapes (too ripe, too green, etc.) are removed. What is left from this strict selection process is now very lightly crushed and starts its fermentation in very fine French oak (QUERCUS PETRAEA) and several times a day the must is stirred and pumped over to get the optimal extraction. This maceration process takes no less than 5 weeks after which the wine is allowed to mature further on again French oak of the finest kind (Barbier chooses very fine-grained oak - quercus petrea oak) which are the most expensive barrels available) and then the wine matures for around 16 months on this beautiful elegant oak. After this the bottles are given another 8-12 months of bottle maturation before the wine is released.

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