At the table with Clos Mogador 2022
Roast lamb shoulder with garrigue herbs, wild boar civet with wild berries, venison fillet with red cabbage, duck breast with cherries, aged Manchego.
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Let's talk little, let's talk wine
Clos Mogador 2022Clos Mogador
This cuvée comes exclusively from the Clos Mogador estate, in Gratallops, in the heart of the DOQ Priorat, in Catalonia. The 20-hectare vineyard is terraced across mountainous terrain at around 350 metres above sea level, on llicorella soils, the slate typical of Priorat that gives the wine its mineral signature.
Winemaking relies solely on native yeasts, with 30% stems and a maceration of 35 to 65 days. Ageing continues for 18 months, exclusively in large 2,000-litre oak foudres.
This wine reveals notes of blueberry, blackberry, redcurrant, ripe cherry, violet, dark rose, bay leaf, clove, juniper, pepper, dry hay and wet slate. The palate is dense and round, enlivened by fresh, fruity acidity; the still-young tannins are fine and chalky. The long, dry and mineral finish precisely extends its Mediterranean character.
Where are we traveling?
PrioratSpain
It lies in the hinterland of Tarragona, in Catalonia, some hundred kilometres south-west of Barcelona, nestled in a natural amphitheatre of steep hills and deep valleys. The vineyards spread across dizzying slopes, sometimes steeper than 45 degrees, at between 100 and 700 metres above sea level, in a spectacular landscape of narrow terraces clinging to the mountainside. Its winegrowing history dates back to the 12th century, when Carthusian monks founded the priory of Scala Dei and planted the first vines, giving the region its name. After centuries of prosperity, phylloxera and rural depopulation emptied the Priorat of its winegrowers, until a handful of visionary pioneers — René Barbier, Álvaro Palacios, Daphne Glorian and a few others — rediscovered in the 1990s the extraordinary potential of its unique llicorella soils, a shiny black slate that forces the roots to dig deep and gives the wines an intense, dark minerality. The climate is continental Mediterranean, hot and dry, tempered by the Catalan mistral — the cerç — which sweeps through the vines, and by cool nights linked to the altitude, giving the grapes slow ripening and remarkable balance. Priorat is one of only two Spanish appellations to hold DOCa status, on a par with Rioja, and has made its name with monumental, deep reds from Garnacha and Cariñena, often from century-old vines with tiny yields, complemented by ambitious cuvées including Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, and a handful of rare, mineral whites from Garnacha Blanca and Macabeu, testament to an extreme terroir that produces some of the most intense and moving wines in the whole Mediterranean.
The little history of the country
Spain
The history of wine in Spain is so ancient that no one really knows who brought the first vines to the region. When the Phoenicians arrived some 3,000 years ago and founded the present-day cities of Cádiz and Jerez, winegrowing was well established, and Spanish wines were widely traded throughout the Mediterranean and North Africa. You could say that Spain is a winegrowing miracle. After years on the sidelines of the fine wine world, it is now a major player. Investment and ambition in the vineyards and wineries are producing increasingly rich, complex (often very high in alcohol) and spicy reds that are more and more popular with international consumers. Proud to have more land under vine than any other country, Spain is only just beginning to capitalise on this resource consistently. Spain is an anarchic tangle of regions and sub-regions, just as its landscape is an anarchic tangle of incredibly rugged scenery. A glance at a map reveals the climatic diversity between Spain's many wine regions, from the green, rain-soaked vineyards of Galicia on the northern Atlantic coast to the sun-baked vineyards of the Mediterranean south-east. Spain's saving grace, as far as viticulture is concerned, is the average altitude of its vineyards, over 600 metres. Much of Spain's vineyard land therefore manages to produce grapes with good colour and acidity simply because night-time temperatures are relatively low and the grapes do not ripen until the end of a sufficiently long growing season. But there is real treasure to be found for those willing to dig, and now that a class of connoisseurs has developed in Spain, all kinds of ambitious investors have done their part to change the image of Spanish wine. Today a new generation of winemakers has quietly begun to craft spectacular wines and to experiment with grape varieties that would have been unthinkable until recently. Wine remains an important commodity and an integral part of Spanish culture.
All about Clos Mogador 2022
At what temperature should Clos Mogador 2022 be served?
Between 15 and 17 °C.
How long can Clos Mogador 2022 be kept?
Ageing potential: 10 years or more, until at least 2032. Store the bottle lying down, away from light, at around 12 °C.
Which grapes make up Clos Mogador 2022?
Grapes: 45% Grenache noire, 29% Carignan, 16% Syrah, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Origin: Priorat, Spain. Alcohol: 14%.
What to serve with Clos Mogador 2022?
Clos Mogador 2022 pairs well with lamb, hard cheese and game. Our dish ideas are in the food pairing box at the top of the page.