Crossos, Clos Galena, Priorat, Spanish wine, organic

Crossos, Clos Galena, Priorat. Dry red wine. Organic Spanish wine. Crossos is the entry-level wine from Priorat winery Clos Galena and it's already very good! Wonderful nose of ripe blackberries, plums, wood, and vanilla. Smooth and juicy, with beautiful ripe tannins.

Wine writer Hilary Akers said in the FD: "A party!". Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Grenache. Dry red wine from Priorat in Spain. Wood-aged wine (6 months in 224l French oak barriques).

• Serve: 14 °C
• Drink: now until 2030

Priorat, with Rioja the only DOQ in Spain

Priorat - in Spanish Priorato - is named after a priory (monastery) that once stood here. The wine region is rugged, with a nitrogen-poor, hard, stony soil full of minerals (mica schist). This is the famous Llicorella soil. Llicorella gives Priorat wines a beautiful mineral touch.

However, because a lot of wine is made in a robust and overly rich style, you don't always notice it. But with Clos Galena's wines, you do. All their wines have a beautiful elegance due to fine acidity and mineral notes. Galena is the local name for a silvery mineral that was mined in local mines.

For Spanish wine regions, DO always precedes the name: Denominacion d'Origen. Only Rioja and Priorat are allowed to add DOQ: Denominacion d'Origen Qalficada.