B-21 Top Recommendation
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Balancing the fresh, pure flavors of Garnacha with the elegance and complexity of old vine Cariñena, the powerfully rich 95pt. 2018 Bodegas Mas Alta Cirerets is a bargain-priced beauty, boasting luscious fruit hinting of wild herbs with flinty minerality and delivering serious bang for the buck for lovers of robust, terroir-driven Spanish reds.
Although often overshadowed by larger regions like Ribera del Duero and Rioja, the rugged, remote Priorat DOC southwest of Barcelona has gained an elite reputation among collectors over the last several decades, its unforgiving, steep vineyards planted on the dark, decomposed slate known as llicorella mixed with shale and red clay, producing highly rated red blends but often with stratospheric prices to match. Established in 1999 as a joint project under the direction of renowned Rhone negociant and winemaker Michel Tardieu and the late, iconic French enologist Philippe Cambie, Bodega Mas Alta crafted the outstanding value-driven 2018 Cirerets in the village of Vilella Alta, its organically farmed vineyards located at high altitudes from 100 to 600 meters in the shadow of the Serra del Montsant mountains. A blend of Garnacha (Grenache) from 20-year-old vines and Cariñena (Carignan) from low-yielding 60-year-old vines, the grapes for the outstanding 2018 Cirerets were fermented separately in concrete tanks with local yeasts, then aged separately for 16 months before blending – the Garnacha in used barrels and the Cariñena in new ones – yielding elegant, velvety tannins finishing with mineral-tinged acidity rooted in the region's unique volcanic soils.
Drawing praise from Robert Parker over a decade ago for producing top value in the region, Mas Alta's bright and youthful 2018 Cirerets offers rich, ripe freshness with hints of exotic spice and stony minerality, ready to enjoy now and over the next few years, a stunning, cellar-worthy value. | 
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