Lafou Celler - de Batea 2015

Lafou Celler - de Batea 2015 (90 TSW)
Blend of 85% Garnacha Tinta, 15% Samsó (Carignan) from DO Terra Alta

LAFOU Celler was founded in 2007 with a desire to produce wines that reflect the greatness of the Garnacha variety and a wine region as extraordinary as the Terra Alta. The landscape, the vineyard terraces and the gorges make this an ideal place for this variety to express its true greatness.

It was Ramon Roqueta Segalés who undertook this personal project at LAFOU. While studying oenology in France, Ramon was seduced by the Garnacha variety, by its expression and its elegance. It was then that he began to consider the idea of developing a project based on this variety, and he began by looking for the territory where this variety best expresses itself.

The winemaking process at LAFOU is sustainable. Open tanks are used and the grapes are treaded which avoids pumping over, and this guarantees a homogeneous extraction from the cap.

This is LaFou’s most personal wine. It is made on a micro scale in a separate process with grapes from vineyards which are 50 to 70 years old, and where Red Garnacha and Garnacha Peluda grow together smaller proportions of the Samsó variety.

The grapes are harvested manually and as soon as they are taken to the winery, they go through a cold room where they are cooled at 5ºC. After destemming, the grapes are fermented in small deposits of open stainless-steel vats that use a pump over system (aerial pigéage). The wine is aged for 12 months in Central European 300L oak barrels and in concrete egg vats.

My tasting notes:

In the glass a deep ruby red color.
On the medium(+) nose aromas of berries, red currants and pie cherries with hints of tobacco, spices, chocolate, balsamico, black olives and cedar.
On the palate, dry, medium(+) bodied with medium(+) acidity and medium(+) ripe tannins. Good interplay with the higher acidity and the sweetness of the Garnacha. Young but strctured with a medium(+) length finish.

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