The prelude is always the same: a UPS notification of inbound package next day air, and a while later an email from WCC sharing the good news. Thus starts the anticipation, and my appreciation for the WCC process of putting these wines in the hands of us rats; clever and effective.

The visuals of this wine bottle I’ll leave for you to judge yourself as there’s images present, with only a note of the hefty bottle and the general feeling of effort put into the presentation. The back label offers only a few scant details (60/30/10 Grenache/Carignan/Syrah), 13,375 bottles produced, slate soils, Mediterranean climate… along with all the legal things, a barcode, and the winemaker’s mark, whose name is also emblazoned on the capsule.

The initial examination of the wine was directly from the wine cooler, on its own in mid-afternoon. A beautiful ruby-to-garnet red in the glass, without hint of anything to hinder its clarity. Nicely fragrant, producing mostly red fruits and some floral notes, hints of softly ripe strawberries, and pencil shavings. Supple in the mouth, an interesting array of flavors of plum and cherries along with some other tart red fruits collided angularly with one another, some of the pencil shavings from the nose mingling, the label probably influencing my note of “wet slate”. While all together I could tell this was a well-constructed wine with a nice balance, I wasn’t drawn to pour a little more as I’ve sometimes found myself inclined finding myself with the distinct feeling that it would be more interesting with foods.

After considering the grapes, region, and contents of my larder I settled on a hearty, spicy meal, and left the wine stoppered on the counter for the intervening hours. When again the bottle opened, it was considerably warmer than before (these outdoor temps of central Ohio have blessed us with the opportunity to open windows without sitting in pools of our own making of late) and this did have an impact on each aspect of the wine: the nose was more pronounced and bolder, the flavors a bit more intense, and the angularity softened. Along with the rich, spicy, tomato-based food, the wine sang. I’m not entirely certain of the cause of the change in perception here—was it the addition of time and air, the fairly significant change in temperature, the addition of challenge from the food, or some combination of all of those? Regardless, this now asked to be enjoyed, with some fervor.

I did manage to preserve a helping for later today to see how things have progressed, and how my feelings on it may sway again in the absence of the richness of the food. Likely report back, especially if any major changes present themselves.

A surprise e-mail came Tuesday that an opportunity to Rat a bottle was enroute. Delivery was the next day, but not at the normal ~10:30 AM time for the office deliveries but ~3:30 PM on the first cool day in many weeks. The box contained a bottle of Portal de Priorat Negre de Negres, 2018. The bottle was room temperature at best and indicated it was a Spanish GSM, Grenache dominant. GSM’s and Grenache are favorites of mine but I have not had a Spanish GSM before. I let the bottle stand and popped it on Thursday for a glass.
Pepper on the nose, iron, almost like bloody meat, the color is very dark Red. Definite oak on the nose as well with some other spices, even a little mustiness.
On the pallet, a very savory wine. Even though it’s Grenache dominated, it is not bright, red candied cherries like a California grenache but very meaty. I got a lot of oak notes on that first glass. My wife did not like it, but it was interesting enough for me to finish the glass. I popped in a stopper and left it overnight. The ballpark was calling Friday, but I had a quick couple of sips. The wine had calmed down quite a bit and now more fruit was evident; the mustiness was gone as were the heavy oak notes.
Saturday night the bottle was singing. It definitely reminds me of the San Valero Particular Grancha that I’ve had in the past from one of the other sites, definitely picked up the old vine character. Maybe the syrah that’s there is for body I don’t really get much taste but do get some typical Carignan notes; but this is Grenache dominant and it shows. Color is deep red with no sediment.
Don’t know how much oak this sees, but on the pop, it had heavy nose and taste of oak that was almost overwhelming, but it really calmed down on night two and on night three it’s very tasty. The finish is very subtle but long. Definitely some pepper on the pallet and after more time in the glass, the Grenache does brighten up a little bit, but it’s on the darker side of Grenache for sure. The wine paired well with a burger from the grill and I enjoyed it on another welcome cool night on the patio.
I had the last glass on Sunday evening and it was as good or maybe a little better than the previous night. This is a nice wine and should be enjoyable to Grenache and GSM lovers who like the darker side of Grenache. Give it some air and enjoy.

Why is this called a Negre de Negres? Unlike the other Noir de Noirs we’ve seen here (Wellington, anybody?) none of these grapes have dark juice. I thought that was the general term, unless that was something Peter-specific?

SW MI or Northern Indiana split? @ttboy23

I’m in for a case, you had me at deeply fruited Grenache from Priorat. $17 a bottle is a suspiciously good deal but if it’s bad I can find homes for it.

Somewhat concerned about the possibility of too much oak. I know people like this, but I sometimes don’t.

Normally these are consumed somewhat young, if this is a 2018 it is getting a bit old for the style, but I’m not sure I will mind it matured in bottle.