The 2021 Clos Erasmus is not a shy wine and comes in at 15% alcohol but with a pH of 3.3. The search here is for balance, as power comes as a given in Priorat. It was produced with 70% Garnacha and 30% Syrah, mostly from 40-year-old vines, except for a small plot of around 85-year-old vines. The vineyards are certified organic, and they've practiced biodynamics since 2004 but never got certification. The vinification is simple and the same as for Laurel: the bunches cooled down for 24 hours before being sorted and destemmed, then the grapes were put into the vat, where they warm up and start fermenting with the indigenous yeasts. It was pressed and put in barrels, 40% of them new, where it underwent malolactic and aged for 18 months. It feels like the most elegant and ethereal Erasmus ever despite the 15% alcohol on the label. It's very young and feels a bit shy, slightly developing notes of Mediterranean herbs, wild berries and flowers and is a little closed but very harmonious and insinuating. It's medium to full-bodied, with very fine and elegant but abundant tannins. It does feel lighter than previous vintages, possibly the effect of the cooler year. 3,400 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2023.
Product Description:
"Clos Erasmus’s sources have remained consistent for many years now, coming from a selection of three vineyard sites: Escales, Aubagues, and Socarrats. Escales was Daphne’s original vineyard, and while encompassing 1.7 hectares, this Garnatxa yields only 6-9 hl/ha. Its character is always delicate, perfumed, and lighter in color provided a floral lift and precision to the final blend. Socarrats is a warmer site planted with 1.9 hectares of Garnatxa and 0.3 hectares of Syrah, of which only a portion of the oldest vine fruit is reserved for Clos Erasmus. It provides a darker fruit character to the final blend and much of the backbone of fine tannins. Aubagues, which was largely regraded and replanted on costers in 2013, has a few remaining terraces of 35-year-old Garnatxa reserved for Clos Erasmus. As one of Daphne’s warmest sites, it provides much of the richness and texture that has become a hallmark of Clos Erasmus. These selections are fermented separately by indigenous yeasts in oak vats. After a gentle maceration lasting a month, they are racked into twelve 228L French oak barrels – 5 new and 7 second-fill. Each January, Daphne, Eric & Ester Nin tasted each of the barrels and assemble the final blend equaling only 3000-3500 bottles each vintage. The remaining wine is declassified and included in the Laurel." - Importer
