Always looking for a good value Priorat…some of my most favorite wines but very, very pricy.  At Bodega Santa Cecilia one day I noticed a Priorat priced around 15€ and decided to try.  Love it and decided to put it into some of my wine tastings with some clients.  I set about doing some research on the wine and come to find that it has just been rated above 90 by Parker….too funny…here I was thinking I had uncovered a hidden gem!

Wine:  Abellars 2004 (Finca Mas de l’Abella)
Winery:  Celelrs Noguerales
Denominacion de Origen (DO): Priorat
Alc: 14.5%
Grape variety: 50% Garnacha, 25% Cariñena, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah
Oak regime:  aged 12 months in French and Eastern European oak (First and second year barrels only)
Price:  around 15€ retail in Madrid (Bodega Santa Cecilia)

Tasting notes
Visual:  Deep, opaque purple-red
Nose:  Intense sweet black fruit, liqueur blackberry, coffee, smoky, cloves…quite complex.    
Mouth:  Huge mouth!  Very intense black liqueur fruit, smoke, and spice…fruit lasts through a very long finish.  Big tannins, but very smooth and ripe.  Good acidity to balance all that bigness!   Big wine but very easy to drink…not tiring.
Food:  This would do well with some roast lamb, or a big bean dish such as fabada.   

Conclusion:  Good complexity and lovely black liqueur fruit so typical of Priorat….all for a tiny price…15€.  Very distinct personality that is present in the best Priorats.  One of the reasons I love them so much is that strong personality that reflects a sense of place or terroir.  No mistaking them for anything but what they are.  As I am in a Garnacha frame of mind, I want to also point out that this is another great Garnacha-based wine!