Celler Vall Llach Aigua de Llum, Priorat DOCA, Spain

瓦爾拉克酒莊埃古德呂姆白葡萄酒

點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)：2242

The white 2021 Aigua de Llum was produced with 100% Viognier with 13.5% alcohol and good acidity and freshness. It fermented in stainless steel and matured in new 500-liter French oak barrel for four months. It's still reductive and marked by the sulfur from the bottling, with very oaky and toasty flavors but with contained ripeness and alcohol. 1,250 bottles were filled in April 2022.

The one white here, the 2018 Aigua de Llum is a ripe and generously oaked pure Viognier from 25-year-old vines that are currently being converted to organic farming. It fermented half in new 300-liter oak barrels and half in stainless steel and matured in new 500-liter French oak barrels for four months. It's still too much new oak for me, but the extra freshness of 2018 makes it feel better integrated. The wine is still quite powerful at 15% alcohol, so it's not a shy or austere white at all. 649 bottles were filled in May 2019.

The one white wine they produce with Viognier grapes is the 2016 Aigua de Llum, made with the grapes from 22-year-old vines on slate soils. Half of the wine fermented in 300-liter oak barrels and the rest in stainless steel. It matured in 225- and 300-liter oak barrels for four months. It felt very different from what I had tasted previously, quite young and fruit-driven, with some floral notes and simple aromas of white fruit along with a spicy and smoky touch. It didn't really show any Viognier character and came through as a straightforward, fresh white. 1,200 bottles were filled in June 2017.

The only white produced at Vall Llach, the 2014 Aigua de Llum, is mainly Viognier complemented with other local grapes, some 15% Garnacha Blanca and 5% made up of Picapoll, Macabeo, Moscatel and Escanyavella. This is not a shy white, as it packs 15.5% alcohol, with low-ish acidity and a round and lush mouthfeel. Half of the Viognier fermented in new 300-liter French oak barrels and the rest in stainless steel, like the other varieties, which were later transferred to new 225-liter barriques where the wines aged for some four months. This is often my favorite wine from the winery, as it's the more drinkable one. Only 986 bottles were filled in June 2015.

Last year I tasted an older vintage of their white, and this time I encountered the 2013 Aigua de Llum, an unusual blend of 80% Viognier (from the Mas d'en Porrera estate) that is a blend of 15% Garnacha Blanca and a 5% made up of Macabeo, Escanyavella and Moscatel. Right now the élevage dominates the nose and the aromas of exotic fruits and syrup are in the background. Even in a cooler vintage like 2013 this wine reaches 15.5% alcohol so it comes through as a warm, Mediterranean effort that is quite well-built and offers very ripe flavors and even developing some honeyed notes. This might not be as long lived as the fantastic 2006. This vintage produced 1,365 bottles.