I det nordøstlige hjørne af Spanien finder du vinområderne Priorat og Montsant. Herfra driver vinmager Albert Jané stolt sit værk: vingårdene Ritme Cellar og Acústic Cellar. I marts byder Albert og Erik Sørensen Vin indenfor til virtuel vinsmagning og som en lille forsmag, kan du læse dette interview med vinmageren (engelsk).
Vinmager Albert Jané – han arbejdede i mange år på sin fars vingård i Penedés, men begyndte for sig selv ved køb af marker med meget gamle vinstokke i Montsant i 2004. Senere kom Priorat til og han har marker flere steder i området.
What soils do you have in your vineyards and how do they influence your wines?
We have 2 cellars: DO Montsant where the soil mostly is clay and sand; clay soil gives freshness and fruitiness to the wines, and sandy soil makes the wines more ripe and more powerful. In the other cellar, DOQ Priorat, there is the unique and singular Licorella soil (slate) which affects a lot the wines …making them more espiritual and mineral and very very dark and very powerful. It is amazing how different the wines of Priorat are compared with Montsant – and the main reason for this difference is the very singular Llicorella soil of Priorat.
What is the aging potential of your wines, and when do you think they are ready for enjoyment?
For the red wines the potential aging is for sure 15 to 20 years or maybe more. If people like fruity juicy wines they should drink them during the first 5-8 years; if people prefer more aged and complex wines they should keep them for a longer time.
In Rioja they talk about a new classification, what about in Priorat – are there any talks about that in this area?
Priorat and Montsant are very small wine areas, so not many possibilities of changes. There are the specific classifications of wines for the name of the village where the vineyards and the cellars are i DOQ Priorat.
What is the biggest difference between you and your dad in the winemaking?
My dad did an amazing job teaching me about seriousness and quality in working, but during his time the wine business was more classic and closer. He was looking for quality wines. Now we can look for both quality wines and also singular and personal wines which express where they come from – using native varieties.
Where do you see Montsant in 10 years – will this area always be considered as the “little brother” of Priorat?
I don’t think this is real right now. Montsant is getting more and more important with its own singularity and personality; Priorat wines are different. Montsant is plenty of very very old vineyards, and the quality of the wines are amazing and very very good. At least in our case our Montsant and Priorat wineries are similar in style and singularity.
Do you have any experience with other grape varieties at your estate?
We have a lot of experience with Garnatxa and Carinyena, also with Garnatxa Blanca, Macabeu, Garnatxa Gris and Pansal. We used to work a little bit with Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.
What are the main differences between your wines from Montsant and Priorat?
The style because of the soil conditions. We are doing almost the same in the cellar. Our Priorat wines are deeper, darker, more mineral and more espiritual style wines because of the behavior of Llicorella soil. Our Montsant wines are fruitier, juicier more friendly and more open…because of the clay and sandy soil conditions of the soil.
Can you draw some parallels to music in you wines and in the winemaking in terms of rhythm, dynamics, timbre…?
We are looking for acustic, unplugged, fruity, juicy, honest, unplugged wines with a lot of sense of history, culture and landscape of the historical areas where they come from. In Priorat we want to show the rhythm (= “ritme”) and singularity of Priorat area and its specific soil.
What are the main climatic challenges you have as a winemaker in Priorat and Montsant?
Old vineyards are very smart and their wisdom are good at adapting to the challenge of the climate. We are looking for higher altitude vineyards and also north facing vineyards to be able to harvest them later.
What are the main characteristics of excellent Montsant and Priorat wines?
Intensity, powerful, character, unique personality because of the exceptional area where they come from and the very old vineyards with very low yields.
In your mind, how do your wines stand out and differ compared to other Priorat and Montsant wines?
From the beginning we had a very very clear idea of wanting to show “unplugged wines” with not much “make up” both in terms of human influence, low influence of barrels aging and very simple wine making enabling us to show the true character of the singular native variety vineyards …. acustic …unplugged wines.
Se udvalget fra Ritme (Priorat)
Se udvalget fra Acústic (Montsant)
