2017 El Espectacle del Montsant Montsant 750 ml

One of the most exciting places in the world to explore, be it for wine, food, art or architecture, is Catalunya. Recently, opening this gorgeous bottle of El Espectacle reminded us of everything we adore about Spanish wine—it’s lifted and fresh, but far from a wallflower with concentrated fruit, power, and depth—more specifically, it reminds us why we love Catalonian wine. This section of Spain is wholly unique, and that extends to their wines—put another way, El Espectacle is the wine WE NEVER pass up, and we'd love for you to taste why.

A result of the abundant sunshine and special soils, the ‘17 El Espectacle has citrus peel aromatics laced with dried herbs and a robust, dense palate. Perfect with a hearty seafood stew or open-fire grilled meat, whether you are sitting on your yacht in the Mediterranean, or just in your own backyard.   

The high-altitude Montsant region achieved a milestone when it earned its own designation in 2002. But since then, DO Montsant has found itself overshadowed by its neighbor, DOQ Priorat: In mere decades, it rocketed from unknown to producing what Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson call “some of Spain’s most exciting, and most expensive, wine.” That rapid rise, they marvel, “was inspired by one man.”

That man is René Barbier, the French-educated enologist who worked at Petrus before focusing on—and revolutionizing—Priorat. Barbier saw something world-class in that region, and now he sees the same thing in Montsant, where “Espectacle'' is proving him prescient once again. His team from Clos Mogador hand-harvests the daunting 5-acre plot of 100 year-old vines. These gnarled Garnatxa vines are from a hill he calls “L’ermita of Montsant.” With soils similar to Priorat and abundant Meditteranean sunshine, the wine has endless depth and energy. The Wine Advocate’s 96-point review claims “ripe and heady à la Châteauneuf, spirity, open and aromatic, with notes of soy sauce and decayed violets, a little decadent.”