Primitiu de Bellmunt crafts this gorgeously intense Catalan wine from the Priorat district - deep, ripe and voluptuous - it shows how gracefully wines from the highly praised Priorat region can age.

Primitiu de Bellmunt, like many Priorat growers, originally sold bulk wine to other producers, until Antonio Rodriguez began bottling wines under his own label in the late 1990s. Primitiu de Bellmunt is now at the forefront of this little known Catalan district, and Priorat has transformed its lackluster reputation into a real powerhouse of modern winemaking.

Antonio, together with winemaker Josep Valiente, seek to maximise the full potential of three of the oldest vineyard plots in the entire Priorat with Garnatxa (Grenache) and Carinyena (Carignan) vines of between 70-110-years-old. Older vines mean less fruit – producing big, juicy concentrated wines with distinctive underlying minerality and bags of terroir.

Super aromas of coffee and black berries intermingled with aromatic eastern spice and kirsch. The palate is very enticing, with soft berry fruits to the fore, gentle tannins and lively aromatic red fruit notes. Quite beguiling.