Description

René Barbier led the original Priorat revitalization in the mid-1980s, proving that exciting and unique fine wines could be made in this remote and all but forgotten corner of Spanish Catalonia. At Clos Mogador, he nursed back to life abandoned  vineyards planted on steep schist hillsides, where the ancient 100+ year old Grenache and Carignan bush vines had learned to struggle against the aridity by sending roots 25 meters down through the layers of schist (llicorela) in search of water and nutrients, yielding less than half a ton per acre of intense, concentrated, and super complex juice. The “grand cru” estate became firmly established as the number one address in the appellation, with a bulging press book to back this claim. “But Clos Mogador is much more, a thriving ecosystem and a celebration of biodiversity, a blueprint for living “terroir.”  And I have never forgotten when we visited the winery and property in 2007 how the grapes were being ever so gently “juiced” with an old olive basket press that is still in use today.

“The eponymous red 2021 Clos Mogador fermented with some 30% full clusters trying to give it more freshness (but without noticing the stems) with a long maceration (40 to 50 days) and (almost) no punching down, with less extraction. There’s been a progressive change in the vineyard (they removed the south-facing Cabernet Sauvignon), and they increased Cariñena (around 30%), which in the future will be almost as much as Garnacha. It has aromatic complexity and a beautiful texture. It matured in 2,000-liter oak foudres and a small part in barrel and later in concrete. The wine has 14% alcohol and has the Priorat, Mogador and Mediterranean character (wet slate, graphite, aromatic herbs) with more elegance and freshness. The tannins are also a lot more elegant, and the wine comes through as very balanced. They produced 35,000 bottles of this. It was bottled in June 2023.  2025-2036” – 98 points, Wine Advocate, Luis Gutierrez  (May 2024)

Our store’s cellar has bottles dating back to the early 2000s if you have interest in back vintages.