Scala Dei Priorat Prior Crianca - 2001 - $22

I’m a big fan of wines from the Priorat region is Spain. This area in Catalonia is well known for producing very high quality, unique, Grenache-based wines. I find the in general Priorats have a very chocolaty-earthiness to them that dance with the fruits of the Grenache. I highly recommend trying wines from this region if you are new to wines and looking to expand to new areas. Priorats can be quite expensive, but there are many great buys under $30 if you do some research (and a lot of tasting!).

The Scala Dei Priorat Prior Crianca is 88% Grenache with the rest being Syrah (8%) and Cabernet (4%). I tried this wine right from the bottle, which was a mistake! I immediately grabbed a decanter and let it sit for over an hour. When we came back to it the wine had really developed nicely. The color was dark purple with a shade or two lighter on the edges. On the nose I noted dark fruits, chocolate and a touch of dried sage, and smoke. The wine started off with good amount of blackberry and currant with dusty tannins with a buttery finish. Really lovely earth component to this wine that is quite familiar to me among the Priorats. My rating: 90 pts.