Clos Baltasar is the impressive result of a wise combination of small vinifications from special vineyards in one of the areas of greater typicity in the D.O Calatayud appellation. Old Grenache is blended with small amounts of other varieties such as Miguel De Arco, Bobal and Moristel grapes which grow among the Grenache plants in the same vineyards following traditional winegrowing methods. North-facing vineyards planted at average heights of 900 metres in red slate soils in the heart of the Iberian System mountain range produce a true mountain wine — both floral and intense, with all the character usually found in the best wines created in continental climates.
To achieve the character that ripe grape stems give to the best wines, only a quarter of the grape bunches are destemmed. The grapes are macerated for 21 days in wooden vats and concrete tanks and then aged in large barrels and concrete eggs. The result of this delicate vinification process is an extremely pleasant wine, seductive but not blatantly so, whose wonderful varietal typicity and the character of its terroir entrap the drinker. Clos Baltasar is a strong and intense wine with an impressive personality, not based on over-extraction or excessive wood but on the amazing quality of its fruit, cultivated in idyllic conditions. Agreeable and satisfying with no sharp edges, it offers a little of everything a good wine needs. A balanced strength and tannicity, sufficient acidity, and a wide aromatic range (cloves, cardamom, cherry and orange liqueur), all blended together so well to make it impossible to notice where one flavour or sensation finishes and another one starts. Definitely a Grenache wine, but also a rounded and honest Calatayud wine. Clos Baltasar is one of the best wines from one of the most prestigious winemakers in the region — a guarantee that we are talking about an all-round splendid drink.
The old-vine Garnacha 2017 Clos Baltasar contains small percentages of other grapes like Miguel de Arco, Bobal or Monastrell that are co-planted in the field. 2017 was a warm, ripe, early and low yielding year. The grapes from schist and clay soils in the villages of Atea and Acered, fermented with 75% full clusters in concrete vats and the wine matured in a combination of concrete eggs and 300- and 500-liter French oak barrels. It had a very unusual nose with savory notes redolent of boiled ham, a little brothy, quite expressive à la Rhône (think Cornas rather than anything southern), voluptuous, showy and impressive. There were 22,000 bottles produced and bottled in September 2018.
My first purchase of this wine and I'm impressed. Very pleasant/smooth with a long finish. Quite a sophisticated wine and a bit of a bargain at this price
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