Clos Erasmus 'Laurel' Priorat

Garnatxa / Syrah / Cabernet Sauvignon

Priorat, Spain

In 1988 Daphne Glorian spent her entire life’s savings on 17 terraces of vines situated in a wooded hollow just outside the village of Gratallops. Her accomplices in this folly? – René Barbier, Álvaro Palacios, Carles Pastrana, and Josep Lluís Pérez. Together they pooled their resources and newly acquired vineyards, settling in a region rich in history but without a reputation for fine wines. Clos Erasmus is one of five labels established with modern Priorat in 1989. It is fittingly named after the famed humanist and Renaissance author Desiderius Erasmus, a favorite writer of Daphne and her humanist father, and in whose timeless work – In Praise of Folly – can Daphne’s hard work in the Priorat be fully understood.

Laurel is sourced from younger vines of Garnatxa planted on costers in Aubagues, Garnatxa, Syrah, and Cabernet from the warm terroir of Socarrats, and Garnatxa and Syrah from Guinarderes. The final blend is roughly 75% Garnatxa, 20% Syrah, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged in large oak vats, concrete tanks, second and third fill French oak barrels, and clay amphorae, the complexity of the élevage is reflected in the wine, which always shows an ethereal and aromatic complexity, translucent ruby color, with red fruit more than black fruit character buttressed with subtle tannins.