Arnt Egil Nordlien
Arnt Egil Nordlien
I bought these three Priorats from Vall Llach a while ago and decided to pull he corks as I just simply wanted to try these wines. They were had one bottle each day with dinner, so they had the full chance to show their best over several hours.
Embruix de Vall Llach 2006
This is the entry level of Vall Llach. The vines here are young, as I under stood between 6-8 years old. The blend is 34% Garnacha, 22% Carinena, 21% cabernet sauvignon, 19% syrah, 4% merlot. It is aged 16 months in in 2-3 years old barriques. Tight dark violet colour. Pretty nose. Lots of dark berries, anise, even minerality, oak, floral high notes. I switched glasses a few times and this really needed large wide glasses to show it's best, so I ended up with the Vinum Burgundy. Really powerful wine in the mouth. Now drinking this reminds me that I rarely drink wines of this size. To is just incredibly big to me. Bigness has nothing to do with quality. But there's not only quantity here. Loads of fruit and concentration. Dark fruity style, but great depth and fine notes. Anise, earth, very fine floral notes. Some young oak in the background, but greatly balanced. Medium acidity. Long and dry finish. The massive 15,75% alcohol is in balance. This is a great wine and hugely impressive for being the basic red wine from Vall Llach. It is a great drink now, but can probably take on quite some time. Amazing results with such young vines. Great QPR.
Idus de Vall Llach 2006
So this is the medium quality Priorat. I was not sure what to expect as the first wine was so powerful. The blend here is 40% Carinena (old vines), 20% merlot, 15% cabernet sauvignon, 15% Garnacha, 10% Syarh. 14 months in barriques. 1/3 new. Tight dark, purple colour. Fruity and inky nose. Quite intense. Some oak, floral high notes, even anise and minerality. Massive and concentrated wine in the mouth. Some baby-fatness from the sheer power of the fruit. Fine and deep fruitiness. Lots of inky notes, dark fruits, anise. Some oak, but well balanced. Medium acids and a quite tight finish with lots of tannins. Not the driest tannins, but still leaving a dry aftertaste. High alcohol (15,8%), but balanced by the fruit. It is indeed better than the Embruix, showing quite a bit more concentration and depth. It is indeed a great wine that is too young right now to show it's best. Give it at least another 3 years in the cellar. Another great wine.
Vall Llach 2006
So this is the top bottling. Old vines only (close to 100 years). 65% Carinena, 20% merlot, 15% cabernet sauvignon. 14 months in new barriques. Tight dark purple-red colour. Fine nose. Dark berries, ink, anise, slatey notes, oak. Some fine high-notes and great depth. Powerful wine in the mouth. Concentrated with lots of fruit. Deeper than the Idus. This shows more inky, anisy notes and more minerality and slate. Also more apparent oak, but this has the stuffing to handle it. This has a little lower acids than the Idus, but seems fresh and fine. Dry and tannic end with fine tannins. Good length. No problem balancing it's 15,85% alcohol. Great wine. Young wine and needs at least 4-5 years and time to integrate the oak-notes. Will be a truly tremendous bottle with time.
I recommend all these three wines. They are big, but beautiful with a great depth and interesting aromatics. The Vall Llach is expensive, but worth it. The Idus is probably the better buy.
Embruix de Vall Llach 2006
This is the entry level of Vall Llach. The vines here are young, as I under stood between 6-8 years old. The blend is 34% Garnacha, 22% Carinena, 21% cabernet sauvignon, 19% syrah, 4% merlot. It is aged 16 months in in 2-3 years old barriques. Tight dark violet colour. Pretty nose. Lots of dark berries, anise, even minerality, oak, floral high notes. I switched glasses a few times and this really needed large wide glasses to show it's best, so I ended up with the Vinum Burgundy. Really powerful wine in the mouth. Now drinking this reminds me that I rarely drink wines of this size. To is just incredibly big to me. Bigness has nothing to do with quality. But there's not only quantity here. Loads of fruit and concentration. Dark fruity style, but great depth and fine notes. Anise, earth, very fine floral notes. Some young oak in the background, but greatly balanced. Medium acidity. Long and dry finish. The massive 15,75% alcohol is in balance. This is a great wine and hugely impressive for being the basic red wine from Vall Llach. It is a great drink now, but can probably take on quite some time. Amazing results with such young vines. Great QPR.
Idus de Vall Llach 2006
So this is the medium quality Priorat. I was not sure what to expect as the first wine was so powerful. The blend here is 40% Carinena (old vines), 20% merlot, 15% cabernet sauvignon, 15% Garnacha, 10% Syarh. 14 months in barriques. 1/3 new. Tight dark, purple colour. Fruity and inky nose. Quite intense. Some oak, floral high notes, even anise and minerality. Massive and concentrated wine in the mouth. Some baby-fatness from the sheer power of the fruit. Fine and deep fruitiness. Lots of inky notes, dark fruits, anise. Some oak, but well balanced. Medium acids and a quite tight finish with lots of tannins. Not the driest tannins, but still leaving a dry aftertaste. High alcohol (15,8%), but balanced by the fruit. It is indeed better than the Embruix, showing quite a bit more concentration and depth. It is indeed a great wine that is too young right now to show it's best. Give it at least another 3 years in the cellar. Another great wine.
Vall Llach 2006
So this is the top bottling. Old vines only (close to 100 years). 65% Carinena, 20% merlot, 15% cabernet sauvignon. 14 months in new barriques. Tight dark purple-red colour. Fine nose. Dark berries, ink, anise, slatey notes, oak. Some fine high-notes and great depth. Powerful wine in the mouth. Concentrated with lots of fruit. Deeper than the Idus. This shows more inky, anisy notes and more minerality and slate. Also more apparent oak, but this has the stuffing to handle it. This has a little lower acids than the Idus, but seems fresh and fine. Dry and tannic end with fine tannins. Good length. No problem balancing it's 15,85% alcohol. Great wine. Young wine and needs at least 4-5 years and time to integrate the oak-notes. Will be a truly tremendous bottle with time.
I recommend all these three wines. They are big, but beautiful with a great depth and interesting aromatics. The Vall Llach is expensive, but worth it. The Idus is probably the better buy.