Tag Archives: Clos Mogador

Welcome to Spain (technically) (Priorat, Spain – Day One)

After a brief hiatus I am now back in wine country, and an entirely new country has welcomed me with open arms. The question is, what country is that; Spain or Catalunya? The Catalan people are convinced that they should be separate from the rest of Spain, as they speak a different language and have their own unique culture. As it is the first part of Spain I am visiting or have ever visited, it is difficult for me to say whether or not there is a big difference, but much like Italy I am excited to find the differences between each part of the country. I am spending the next six weeks in Spain and Portugal, mostly working in a clockwise direction, and thankfully I seem to have a very reliable, fuel-efficient car that is not too small and drives very nicely (a Citroen C4). I arrived in Barcelona last week and spent the weekend there. It is a lovely city, and is one of those modern cosmopolitan cities that everyone should visit, but I did get the distinct impression that it is more a reflection of Europe rather than Catalunya or Spain. There is certainly a fantastic night life, and the beaches are great, but prices seem to be a little higher and it is harder to find good authentic regional food there, as a lot of the (particularly young) inhabitants want more international food. Anyway, on Monday morning I headed south-west to Priorat to discover one of the most talked about wine regions in Spain.

Easter all over again

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Winery Visits

Clos Mogador – 4/06/2012

Manyettes 2003
Bright floral red currants, mineralic red earth, slightly talcy. Core of sweet red fruit, very mature, slight cheesy texture and mature red cheese taste. Very fine and elegant, delicate refined. Nice expression, approachable balanced and fruit forward. Probably a product of the vintage in terms of ripeness and fruit sweetness and silkiness.

Manyettes 2009 (90% carignan, 10% grenache)

More green floral notes, grain notes, bright flinty and crisp. Dense, intense fruit, younger and more expressive at the moment. A very unique floral aroma. Juicy and bright, like juice. Like alcoholic grape and blackcurrant juice. Lovely bright clean purple colour.

Clos Mogador 2008 (46% grenache, 21% carignan, 19% cabernet sauvignon, 14% syrah)

Similar unique aromatics to the 2009 Manyettes, kind of a menthol, herbal tea, aniseed bush, rosemary combination. Very bright purple colour, quite intense. Bright fresh juicy black fruit, slight crispness of some tropical flavours. Very different to the reds of France and Italy, true terroir wine.

Clos Mogador 2009 (44% grenache, 21% carignan, 19% cabernet sauvignon, 16% syrah)

Earthier meatier fuller nose, kind of like peanut butter jelly belly. Popcorn butter, dark red fuits, juby cassis notes. Denser darker fruit, more mellow and fuller in flavour, quite different in character to the 2008 vintage, you really see the difference between vintages. Powerful forward youthful expression, plenty of sweet characters.

Clos Mogador 2010

Amazingly complex, very subtle green notes, herbal spice. Dense concentrated but very fine tannins and fruit. Focused yet very soft and gentle, needing time to open up and express itself. Purity of fruit and minerality, builds on the palate, teeth staining but not heavy or hot. Still quite fresh and generous. Another winner from the 2010 vintage in Europe.

Nellin 2008 (white grenache, macabeu, viognier, pinot noir, escanyavelles, pedro ximenez)

Quite a bright sweet tropical fruit nose, pineapples, limes, kiwis, grapefruits, almost smells like a riesling. Intense vibrant, powerful yet very complex. Oak giving a nice subtle texture and crunchy character. Ripeness and concentration of fruit, dense dark minerality. Very tropical and full-flavoured but not overripe and sweet. A tad warm and phenolic, but very pleasant overall.

Marc de Priorat

Very pure and bright, fresh and quite smooth. Good fruit notes, very concentrated. A fairly subtle nose for a Grappa. Soft and gentle, nice digestif.
Clos Mogador and Manyetes

Leave a comment

Filed under Tasting Notes