The 2005 Domini de la Cartoixa "Clos Galena" from Priorat, Spain is a beautiful deep purple, bordering on opaque. The nose is big, black fruit, with spice and minerality also present. It's a blend of 40% Garnacha Negra, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Syrah, and 15% Carinena. The Garnacha, or Grenache, and Syrah gives it some spice. The Cab lends some structure and black fruit. Jay Miller gave it 95 points, but I'm letting it evolve a bit in the glass before I agree, and it is definitely evolving over an hour so far. It certainly has various layers in the taste, and is fairly intensely concentrated. The mouth weight is medium, and it has a reasonable length of finish, maybe 20 to 30 seconds. Their web site says it was aged 12 months in 90% French oak and 10% American oak. It also calls it powerful, which in this case is a synonym for 15% alcohol. Tannins are definitely present, but not over-powering. The wine is featured at http://www.closgalena.com/eng/pdfs/fitxa_clos_05_eng.pdf
I'd buy this again, which I found for $29. Not bad for a 95 point wine, with Spain showing it's value again and again. Great stuff!
I'd buy this again, which I found for $29. Not bad for a 95 point wine, with Spain showing it's value again and again. Great stuff!
