La Prats 2014, from Oriol Artigas
A multi-varietal wine from a single vineyard: Subirat Parent, Garnacha Blanca, Moscatel, Beier, Sant Jaume, Macabeo, Pansa Blanca, Sumoll ...
La Prats (also known as la Barbassa) is an emblematic vineyard in the Alella area (Vilassar de Dalt) and connects our contemporary world with a tradition implanted by the Romans. It is no coincidence that the vineyard, planted in 1913, with an average age of the vines of about 65 years (of course, some are dead and have to be replaced...), caught the eye of Oriol Artigas. Artigas, a quiet, knowledgeable man of ancient learning, understands the land and knows that wine is born to speak of its terroir and its grapes with discretion. His aim was to revive the vineyard, to protect it from an environment which is now hostile, but which was once a paradigm of cohabitation, with vines growing alongside almonds, pomegranates and fig trees.
Oriol ploughs once a year, carries out one weeding, and does not work with herbicides or fungicides. His grapes are healthy enough to start and complete fermentation with their own yeasts. The moderate vigour of the soil (lime, clay and silt, with roots just touching the rocks), along with the nearby sea, complete the portrait. Wild blackberries in the thicket. Tender fig leaves. Pomegranate juice. A dry, salty, fresh and austere wine. The Garbí wind at sunset. Friar plums. Red clay. Rock and sand. Roughness and smoothness: a unique wine that speaks an eternal language, that of the generosity of a vineyard, happy once more, thanks to the curiosity and care of its grower.
