Back to the day job - more tastings - Galena

24-Apr-11 - At last, I've gathered up all the dusty empties with scribbled post-it notes, some of which have been hanging around for six months but, unfortunately - or, indeed, fortunately - I've been so busy that I haven't had time to list them. So, here goes - prices, where quoted, are approximate as at April 2011, and will go out of date.

Domini de la Cartoixa was founded in the DOQ Priorat in 2000 by a university professor on 24 ha of vineyards with galena (lead ore) bedrock, land formerly occupied by the monks of Scala Dei. He grows Garnacha, Cariñena and Syrah  and is aiming for the top end of the market. With his flagship wines, Galena and Clos Galena, he also produces a 'second wine' called Formiga Vellut ('velvet ant') which represents excellent value for money - www.closgalena.com - UK contact Alex Francis.

2008 Formiga de Vellut, DOQ Priorat - £13.00 - 14.5% abv - Garnacha/Samsó/Syrah. Lovely soft fruit ('velvet', indeed) and a delicious, smoky length. 17/20

Galena artistic labels

2006 Galena, Domini de la Cartoixa, DOQ Priorat - £22.50 - 14.5% abv - Garnacha/Cabernet-Sauvignon/Merlot/Cariñena. Soft, dark fruit, a bit closed on the nose but big structure and rich, concentrated fruit, musky, mouth-filling finish. 18/20

 Josep Moscardó

As you can see by the labels, the bodega is into art by local artists, an example of which is above. For more information about the paintings, contact Alex Francis.

A note about Samsó and Cariñena. They are the same grape, but Cariñena is a town and also a DO, and it's illegal in Europe to put the name of one wine region on the label of another wine region, so the confusion arises because the grape and the DO have the same name. The Consejo Regulador recommends the use of the alternative name to avoid this confusion. Curiously, the name 'Samsó' is believed to be a phonetic version of the French 'Cinsault', which is what people thought it was originally. Confused? Well, this is Spain.