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Description

“Josep Serra gives us a fantastic textured Mediterranean white, beautifully rich, yet free of excess glyerol and florality. In DO Terra Alta, Josep grows Garnatxa Blanca from several plots around the village of Gandesa, in the locale known as AucalÌÊ. The landscape here is dominated by Mediterranean pine. Rich white with some barrel spiciness, the nose has the smell of nutty tannin in fresh-cut white fruit – custard apple, feijoa … and a touch of earthier spiced quince. The palate is a joyful romp of rich, buoyant fruit wonderfully constrained structurally by extremely neat spice, tannin grip from oak, fine acidity and flashing minerals a-plenty. There’s orchard-fruit perfume a-plenty in the back palate with lovely acidity, and a touch of refreshing astringency to close. Such a cleverly constructed (and delicious!) wine.”

“Lovely fruit is juicy and fine in the cut green apple and green melon spectrum. The palate is textured and savoury without cloying. It’s waxy and deep with nice lift and a wonderful, textural acid line showing off the fresh chalky-mineral soil. There’s very well controlled build, which honours line above all. It’s limpid and beautifully nuanced with saltiness reflecting the former sea bed soils. The spicy textural extract at finish is way too fine to call phenolic. It’s subtle, but very satisfying, with little dots of herb, and touches of grass in a pebbly mouthfeel and everywhere the fine chalky soil shows clearly.”

“Take a 2 hour drive West of Barcelona and you are in Terra Alta, a mountainous escarpment kissed by the Mediterranean. Garnatxa Blanca (Grenache Blanc) is the Queen here and Josep Serra masters it. I tasted several vintages of this wine and every year it keeps exceeding expectations. The nose is an amalgam of early summer day scents: almond flowers, crunchy white nectarine, golden plum, white mulberry, macerated quince, sage, iodine and I could on and on … plus non-intrusive, well integrated wood spices and a nougat-like sweetness. The palate is structured with texture, crunch and a tingle that emulates chalky minerals. Yet it has an easiness to it, confidence and immediate charm, just like the Catalans! Extreme value.”