Planetes de Nin Garnatxes en Amfora | 2019

Ah, a wine love story! Carlos Ortiz left Barcelona for Priorat in hopes of a quieter life, buying Finca Les Planetes in 1998 and, at first, selling his fruit to Clos i Terrasses. That’s where he met Ester, already a gifted viticulturist, the owner of Mas d’en Caçador, and the winemaker behind her side project, Nit de Nin. Two restless minds found each other, fell in love, and together began to produce wines that were the anti-thesis big and beefy Priorat. Planetes (now called Clàssic) is a blend of Garnacha Tinta, Garnacha Peluda, and Cariñena from vineyards near the village of Porrera. The site is wonderfully complex, with hard and soft schist, black clay soils, and a cooler northeast exposure that gives the wine its glide. Carlos and Ester farm biodynamically, using only organic materials in the vines, from natural treatments to their own homemade compost. In the cellar, the approach is just as thoughtful: native yeasts, neutral vessels, and a measured use of stems in fermentation to preserve freshness and squeeze out those electric aromatics that make the wine feel alive. Notes of stone, smoky violet, dark blue fruit, and that unmistakable red-earth spice silence the skeptics. Yes, it carries 14.5% alcohol and a generous palate, but it stays within the fine lines. There’s balance, and with it, the rugged soul of Priorat. ~Allegra Angelo