The Sangenís family farms some 80 hectares of vines located around Porrera. This ancient region located in hot inland Catalunya was a near abandoned backwater until the 1980s. Hot and dry with very poor soils and almost unworkably steep slopes, the potential from the ancient Garnacha and Carignan vines was there but it has taken pioneering work to prove it. Established in 1996 by Joan Sangenis, the Cal Pla estate consists of 20 hectares of mostly ancient vines, located around Porrera in Priorat. The vines vary in age from 15 to 80 years old. Farming is done organically, which may sound easy in such a warm and dry climate until you see the incline of some of their sites – here any kind of farming is arduous.
The Cellar Cal Pla big Priorat has deep, plummy damson fruit with cinnamon and white pepper, and it outshines other wines from this region. Dry, full-bodied and meaty with liquorice and spice, and a hefty 15%. It is a big wine but it has elegance and depth, complexity and great fruit. The tannins are beginning to integrate nicely with balancing acidity. This wine will continue to develop and rewards 5 years bottle age.
