Portal del Priorat | Priorat | Somni | 2015 | 5000ml

Description

Product description for Portal del Priorat Somni 2015

The renowned Catalan architect Alfredo Arribas has dedicated himself to one of the most interesting new ventures in Priorat and Montsant. Around 15 years ago, he turned to biodynamic agriculture and viticulture. Since then, he has initiated the Clos de Portal, Vins Nus Priorat, and Gotes projects, alongside the Alfredo Arribas, Trossos, and Vins Nus wineries in Montsant. From the outset, it was clear to him that he wanted to produce complex and distinctive wines in every respect, but with low extraction and concentration. Today, he cultivates around 150 hectares in Priorat and 50 in neighboring Montsant, some of which are over 100 years old. Clos del Portal is the starting point, a classic Priorat with dark Llicorella slate. Gotes lies on the border with Montsant, with significantly more vegetation and many fossil soils. Vins Nus comprises the experimental wines from Priorat.

Wine Information

The Somni is a cuvée of Cariñena and Syrah from primarily old vines. The vines are located at an altitude of 320 to 360 meters in Llicorella slate soil with high iron content. The harvest took place in the first three weeks of October. The grapes were sorted berry by berry, fermented for 24 days in a steel fermenter, and aged for twelve months in large French oak barrels.

Colour

Deep purple red

Nose

If you give the Somni plenty of air, a wonderful and lavishly ripe bouquet of cassis, plums, cherries, elderberries, sloe, and blood oranges unfolds. All of this can be found in both liqueur and fresh form. Arribas plays with overripeness here, but is so precise that it walks the exact right line and never loses its balance. The rich fruit is underpinned by bay leaves and sage, licorice, mocha, charcoal, peat, and dark tobacco. As befits a mature wine from the Priorat, there is a clear, cool, mineral component in the aroma that balances the warmth of the fruit in an inimitable way.

Palate

On the palate, the wine is naturally just as ripe and rich as the nose suggested. The beautiful thing is: thanks to the cool, fresh component, the rich fruit is not at all satiating, but rather highly stimulating. The Somni combines power and juice, elegance and sophistication, challenge and finesse. It’s a hedonistic wine, a sensual wine whose prominent fruit is never heavy-handed, but is always buffered by minerality and fine acidity, elegant wood, and fine tannins. This is very skillfully done.

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Keywords: Portal del Priorat Somni 2015 Priorat Spain

Wine Advocate

Score: 88

The red 2015 Somni is too ripe for my taste and plays with over-ripeness. It’s a blend of Cariñena and Syrah, with ripe flavors and grainy tannins. 5,840 bottles were filled in October 2016.
Luis Gutiérrez

Producer website: https://portaldelpriorat.com/