Cartoixa de Scala Dei

The Cartoixa de Scala Dei is commencing a new chapter in its long history with the 2011 vintage. Gone are the foreign varietals in order to concentrate on the Garnacha (75%) and Cariñena (25%), and to recapture the savoir-faire bequeathed by the Carthusian monks which means vinifying partially with stems, maturing the wines in large containers and thus filling our glasses with an impressive wine, transformed thanks to the expertise of the past and endowed with all the power of the Priorat terroir. Starting with the 2011 too, it comes in a new bottle: the endlessly elegant Burgundy bottle.

To produce it, the new team, under the technical direction of winemaker Ricard Rofes, is using a selection of Garnacha and Cariñena grapes from old vineyards, vines aged around 60 years old, planted on terraces and slopes, the typical costers, covered in "llicorella" (shards of slate). They are high-altitude Garnachas and Cariñenas, planted on an assortment of soils and at varying heights, between 500 and 800 metres, where good ventilation is always assured, even in the hottest years. They give rise to this wine, which brings together the minerality of the slate, the freshness of the altitude, the warmth of the Mediterranean climate, the Garnacha's juiciness and the Cariñena's sensuality and delightful elegance.

Keep it, no need to rush. It has been created for evolving over more than a decade, thanks to those large-size containers that avoid the Garnacha oxidising and lengthen its life, and also to vinification with stems that confers tannicity to the wine. Enjoy it in small amounts in a large glass, to awaken the most varied of aromas: plums and blackberries, violets, fruit in liqueur and caramelised fruit, aromatic plants, (bay, rosemary, thyme) and undergrowth, orange peel and black liquorice, with the omnipresent minerality of the llicorella. Unmistakably Priorat. Mature, robust yet pleasant, possessing a rustic undertone without losing its refinement, classic and profound, a wine that has class, tastes of tradition, encompasses history and shows all the signs of a great future. Open the bottle on a sunny day and in excellent company.