Mas La Mola, Priorat Blanco 2022

The grapes for the Mas La Mola, Priorat Blanco 2019 come from the single vineyard Salanques, at an elevation of 575 meter above sea level providing a bit of coolness in an otherwise hot region. Planted in 1962 the Granacha Blanca and the Pedro Ximenez have already reached a respectable age, but also the more than 40-year-old Macabeo vines aren't exactly  babies anymore. Mas La Mola practices organic agriculture and follows the lunar calendar. The hand-picked grapes are sorted and selected twice, in the vineyard and on the sorting table at the winery. After 48 hours of skin maceration, the grapes were pressed in an old basket press. For the Priorat Blanco 2019 only the free run juice, fermented at a low temperature with ambient yeasts, was used. The young wine was partly matured on the fine lees in stainless steel tanks for a period of three to four months. The remaining part was kept in old French oak barrels, in which the lees were stirred up (batonnage) two times per week.

Mas La Mola is a small property of 7 hectares in the Spanish Priorat. It has been in the Ferrando family for 150 years. Jordi Masdeu Català and Alessandro Marchesan, in charge of viticulture and winemaking, are passionate about old Garnacha and Cariñena vines, the typical varieties of the Priorat, from the famous Llicorella slate soils. The gnarly, old vines yield tiny quantities of fruit.