Wine with Leslie: Spanish wines worth trying, including one from an Irishman's vineyard

Small vineyards but big impressions

Of course there is also an Irishman in the area — Tom Gallagher who moved there aged eight.

If asked to name Spain’s best wine region most people would say Rioja or Ribera del Duero, but don’t forget Priorat, southwest of Barcelona.

Only Priorat and Rioja hold the top DOC classification and much of the reason for this is due to tireless work of Alvaro Palacios whose top wine L’Ermita sells for above €1,200. The 2022 has intense fleshy strawberry flavours and beautiful purity and tautness with darker fruits lingering on the palate, in case you are wondering. Palacios’s Camins del Priorat (€25-26) is widely available (Whelehan’s, Corkscrew etc), packed with spice-tinged crushed berry fruits.

Priorat grapes are on slate soils on steep slopes with tiny yields (often just 4 hectolitres per hectare, 12 times lower than Bordeaux).

Garnacha and cariñena (aka samso) are the mainstay with old vines the most prized. Once owned by the church, these vineyards gained fame in the 19th century only to be almost wiped out by phylloxera. It is only since the 1990s that fame has come again.

Impressive as Palacios’ winery is, I confess I fell harder for the charming and rather brilliant Marta Rovira-Carbonell, a mechanical engineer-turned-winemaker who runs Mas D’en Gil, bought by her parents in 1998.

Rovira-Carbonell farms organically using “practical biodynamics” (her words), and her wines are uniformly stunning. As soon as I got home, I bought a case of her Bellmunt from Wines Direct.

Down the hill and surrounding Priorat is Montsant DO and the multi-award-winning Cellar de Capçanes Co-Operative is a good place to start — winemaker Anna Rivero is another star.

Of course there is also an Irishman in the area — Tom Gallagher who moved there aged eight. Gallagher bought a near-abandoned vineyard in 2021 and I recommend his first vintage below. Farming organically, he has already bought more plots, stay tuned.

Mas Collet Celler de Capçanes, Montsant, €20 to €21

Stockists: JJ O’Driscolls; 1601; Cass & Co.; Ardkeen; Matsons; Basil; Vintry; Fresh

From talented winemaker Anna Rovira in the excellent Montsant Co-Op down the hill from Priorat near Tarragona. Full, ripe, juicy and supple with weighty red fruits including cherry and red plum.

This has a huge amount of complexity and elegance for a low price. Also watch for its lively fresh €16 Mas Donis blend.

Diga 2021, Montsant, Spain, €23.95

Stockists: Bradleys; World Wide Wines; Wine Centre; Corkscrew; Ardkeen; Dalys

Created by Irishman Tom Gallagher, this is a brand new project and their first vintage.

A blend of garnacha with a little cabernet for colour, winemaker Toni Coca has gone for a fresh juicy style with ripe red fruits hitting first, and darker plum fruits on the mid-palate and a pleasing crunchy blackberry finish

Mas D’En Gil ‘Bellmunt’ Priorat, Spain, €28.25

Stockists: Wines Direct Athlone & Mullingar, winesdirect.ie

A highlight of my trip to Catalonia was organic-biodynamic winemaker Marta Rovira Carbonell and tasting her gorgeous wines in the beautiful Priorat vineyards. Pure red fruit aromas, full and ripe on the palate, earthy truffle hints and a soft, dark-fruited delicious finish. I bought a case of it. Coma-Vella (€40.75) is even silkier and more profound.

Spirit of the Week: Teelings Single Malt Crystal, 46% ABV, 70cl, €80

Stockists: The Loop at Cork and Dublin Airport, TheLoop.ie

Launched in time for St. Patrick’s Day and exclusive to Cork & Dublin airport, this is a limited edition made with the addition of Crystal malt to the mash bill (crystal malt is created when the sugars in the malting process crystalise, it is rarely used in distilling).

Finished in virgin US oak barrels with the crystal malt adding distinct caramel notes, this has vanilla, cooked pear and caramel aromas, buttery pastry and toffee flavours and lingering spice-tinged Breton beurre-salé & kouign-amann notes. Delicious.