Pull the cork, tip this wine into a glass and there’s a whirl of aromas; black and red fruit, strawberries, violets and balsam. On the palate, the acid gives the wine so much energy, while the tannins (more starched shirt than straightjacket) reins the wine in offering a framework for the long blackberry and slight mintiness finish.
The Ritme is a young, red Criança (below Reserva) wine made from a blend of vinyes velles (old vine – 80 years old) Carignan and a small percentage of Grenache. , both coming from old vines. The vineyards are planted on the famed slate soils of Priorat called llicorella. So known because the shattered landscape sparkles in the sun. The wine is made in an acoustic fashion, very hands-off, unfiltered and unclarified before bottling.
"I tasted two vintages of the entry-level red, the youngest of which was the 2016 Ritme Negre, which is young and fleshy, with good acidity and freshness. It's approachable, tasty and easy to drink. It's mostly Cariñena with 3% Garnacha. 58,644 bottles produced. DRINK DATES: 2018 - 2023" 91 points, Luis Gutierrez (April 2018)
Priorat
This tiny region on the Catalonian coastal hinterland produces some of Spain’s most prestigious red wines. The region has only 1,800 ha of vines covering steep terraces and plateaus up to 900m featuring both granite based soils and unique shale based ”llicorella” soils. Priorat experiences warm to hot days with cool evenings producing wines of great intensity, colour and ripeness. Over the past 20 years, Priorat’s vineyards planted to Garnacha, Carinena, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir, have been slowly revived with great success, producing a new wave of powerful, rich reds, some with generous new oak characters.
