Zerran Tinto Montsant 2016 (750ml)

 

Rated 90 Points by Wine Spectator

 

This lively red delivers bright, fresh flavors of cherry, berry and vanilla, accented by fresh herb and floral notes.  Fruity acidity and light tannins keep this focused.  Not muscular, but balanced and expressive.  Garnacha, Cariñena and Syrah.  Drink now through 2024.

 

Rated 90 Points by Jeb Dunnuck

 

"A tiny production cuvée (there are less than 2,000 cases), the 2016 Zerran is a blend of 50% Garnacha, 40% Cariñena, and 10% Syrah brought up in used French oak.  It has beautiful currants and raspberry fruit notes as well as plenty of minerality, ground pepper, and violets.  This beautiful, elegant wine has the classic Montsant fruit and minerality, yet also has nicely integrated acidity, notable balance, and a clean finish."  Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com, Sept. 6th 2019

 

Zerran Tinto Montsant 2016

 

Jorge Ordonez Selections

 

Carved from the rugged terrain, Montsant, one of the newest D.O.’s in Spain is in fact one of the oldest wine growing regions in the entire Mediterranean area.  Vineyard cultivation dates back more than two millenea.  The indigenous varietals Garnacha, Mazuela and Syrah cling to the steep mountainside plots; their roots struggling to gain a foothold in the rockbound soil.  We are sure you will agree with us that Zerran is definitively the best wine you have tasted from Montsant.

 

Composition:  50% Garnacha, 40% Mazuelo, 10% Syrah

 

Denominacion de Origen:  D.O. Montsant

 

Location:  Falset, capital of Priorat.  This town is situated in the southeastern part of the region, in a valley surrounded by the Sierra del Montsant and Sierra de Llaberia mountains.  Located in the watershed of the Siurana River, between the Camp of Tarragona and mouth of the Ebro River.

 

Varietal:  40% Cariñena (Mazuelo) planted in sandy clay soils 10% Syrah planted in limestone, and 50% Garnacha planted in licorella slate.

 

Vineyards

 

Year(s) Planted:  Between the 1970 and 1995.

 

Viticulture:  Traditional dry farmed viticulture.  Organic Gobelet trained vines.  Cultivated completely by hand, with minimal human intervention.

 

Soils:  Three different soils – slate (licorella), sandy clay soils, and limestone.

 

Climate:  Mediterranean climate with strong climatic influences from the mountains that surround D.O. Montsant.  Drastic temperature differences between day and night.

 

Winemaking

 

Harvested in small boxes.  Cold maceration before fermentation with indigenous yeast in stainless steel tanks.  The wine is transferred to barrel for malolactic fermentation.

 

Ageing:  45% aged for 6 months in 2nd year French oak barrels, 55% stainless steel.

 

Comments

 

When it was formed, D.O. Priorat ignored twelve villages that belonged to the historic Priorat region and Cataluña.  These twelve towns now form D.O. Montsant, a region tied to Cataluña’s culture and history.  All of the vineyards are controlled completely distinctly and individually, in order to take advantage of the characteristics that the different terrains contribute to the Garnacha and other grapes.  Similarly, the wine is vinified in separate, distinct lots separated by the zones that the grapes are sourced from.  This extracts the different qualities of each soil - the fruit forward nature of the fruit sourced from the sandy soils, the complexity and concentration of the licorella, and the structure of the limestone soils.  The best lots of each vinification are blended after in order to obtain this unique wine, which demonstrates the range of qualities of the terroir of Montsant.

 

 

Agricola Falset Marçá

 

D.O. Montsant

 

Jorge Ordóñez was the first person to introduce D.O. Montsant into the United States in 2004.  Bodegas Ordóñez began producing Zerran in D.O. Montsant in 2010 in order to showcase the tremendous value that this unheralded region represents.  Montsant is comprised of twelve small villages that were part of the historic Priorat region but were ignored when D.O. Priorat was formed.  It is characterized by a unique geography of terraced mountainside vineyards planted in a complex diversity of soil types in a warm, Mediterranean climate.

 

Bodegas Ordóñez works with several dry farmed, head trained vineyards of Garnacha, Cariñena (Mazuelo), and Syrah planted in a three separate soil types.  The Garnacha is planted in licorella black slate, the Cariñena is planted in sandy clay, and the Syrah is planted in calcareous limestone soils.  The vineyards are vinified separately to preserve the unique expression of each site.  A selective blending process is used to assemble Zerran, a wine with tremendous depth and complexity that represents incredible quality for the price.

 

 

Rated 90 Points by Wine Spectator

 

This lively red delivers bright, fresh flavors of cherry, berry and vanilla, accented by fresh herb and floral notes.  Fruity acidity and light tannins keep this focused.  Not muscular, but balanced and expressive.  Garnacha, Cariñena and Syrah.  Drink now through 2024.