Head Sommelier
Hotel des Trois Couronnes in Vevey (Switzerland)
The Clos Mogador is a world apart, an enchanted paradise, discovered and praised since 1979 by the Barbier family.
Isabelle and René, the visionaries, paved the way in such a spectacular way that the entire Priorat region adopted their method. Today, their three sons are worthy representatives of the new generation. There is René Junior, the cellar master and teacher, Christian, the “druid” who takes care of the well-being of the terroir and Anderson, the experimental artist.
We do not forget our first Mogador and to experience the visit of the estate is to understand that Mogador is an elixir of its terroir, of the benevolence of the family and of harmony with nature.
This Clos Mogador 2018 is faithful to this DNA.
This very particular vintage, with an atypical profile, throughout the Priorat without any other comparable year, is summed up by its freshness, its balance with good acidity.
We immediately find the scents of the garrigue of the estate, the vapor of the rain falling on the hot slate, the bitter black olives dear to the whole family. Being at the beginning of its life, the primary aromas, especially on red and black fruits, are the most present. Combining intensity and finesse, this vintage is a freeze-frame of the biotope of the plots that surround Clos Mogador.
The styles of vinification which evolve on more flexible maturing, in foudres, make the wine more accessible, more digestible for tasting when young.
By its depth and finesse, this wine calls for gastronomy. Throughout its life, it will marry perfectly with the animals and wild fruits that one finds around the Domaine, in particular game. These are the oppositional accords, these magnificent accords between the raw side of the meat and the sensation of freshness of the wine on the palate, this minerality that makes you salivate. At first, we prefer wild poultry, like a pigeon in a crust of aromatic herbs. Then, if you let this nectar evolve, game accompanied by black olives or melanosporum truffle will make a perfect match.
During the next five years, we will take care to oxygenate it the day before or to decant it a few hours before serving. It can also be left in the cellar for a few years to discover the complexity of the secondary and tertiary aromas that will develop at maturity.
I wish you as much pleasure and emotions as I had when my taste buds met Clos Mogador.
For the first time in our country, Clos Mogador, one of the prestigious wines made by René Barbier in the D.O.Ca. Priorat, was awarded the prestigious qualification of «Vi de Finca».
“Vi de Finca” is an additional qualification to the D.O.Ca. Priorat certification, which already recognizes this wine. Clos Mogador was the first wine to receive this prestigious qualification in the whole of Spain. It certifies that all grapes used to make this wine over at least the last five years have been sourced from the Clos Mogador single vineyard (five years which can be documented and traced), and at the same time is awarded to a wine which has received international acclaim over at least the last ten years.
2018
Certificat Vi de Finca
