2020 Clos Mogador Nelin Blanco

René Barbier is, together with Carles Pastrana of Clos de l 'Obac, Alvaro Palacios (from Rioja, but known by L'Ermita in Priorat) and José Lluis Perez (Clos Martinet, and father of Sarah Perez), one of the "founding fathers "of this recently discovered or rediscovered Priorat wine region. Clos Mogador is named after the single vineyard that René Barbier started cultivating in the 1970s, in the now world-famous village of Gratallops. Clos Mogador wines have become mythical wines, just like Sassicaia from Italy and Château Margaux from France. Clos Mogador has the cult status of great world wine. A special feature in wine making at René Barbier: he presses the grapes with an olive oil press, so that only half of the grape juice is obtained (in contrast to a normal press). As a result, the wine is even 50% more concentrated and looks almost likewise in the glass. Priorat wines are already naturally quite concentrated, and yields are usually already microscopic. Robert Parker was one of the first international journalists to give Clos Mogador wines extra critical acclaim.

The Clos Mogador vineyard is located at an altitude of about 800 meters in the form of an amphitheater with stone terraces. Biodiversity is the magic word here: in addition to grape plants, you will find fruit trees, olive trees and local native shrubs here. The grape plants, some of which are eighty to one hundred years old, grow on a slate base. Slate is a poor and hard soil that has the main property of generating a high acidity in the grapes. The location of the vineyard on slopes in a northeasterly direction to the sea ensures that the nights are very chilly. Because the temperature in the summer in that place is usually thirty degrees Celsius during the day, this means that there are large temperature differences. This ensures that dyes and tannins accumulate in large quantities in the grape skins and that is a sign of quality. The grapes are grown biodynamically, so with attention and respect for the plant and natural conditions, and all work on the land is carried out by hand.

In La figuera (Montsant) his vineyards of René Barbier lie against a mountain slope at an altitude of 400 meters approximately. Beautiful Garnacha come from in this area. This is where the famous Espectacle wine comes from. Nice and ripe with enough acids due to its height. He only picks the grapes when everyone has already harvested, which makes them nice and ripe and full. And its vines are 120 years old with low yields. In Falset his bodega is located on a modern local industrial area Celler laurona.

Grand Cruwines is the co-importer of the wines of Rene Barbier, such as the Clos Mogador, the Espectacle, Manyetes and the Nelin Blanco.