PERINET | Priorat | Merit | 2017
syrah | grenache | carignan | merlot

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Today we are going to review a wine that comes from one of Spain’s most famous wine-growing regions – the mighty Priorat – Priorat DOQ Merit 2017 by Perinet Winery. This wine is a blend of 35% syrah, 25% grenache, 20% carignan and 20% merlot, where syrah and grenache forms the wine’s main body and brings to the forefront those spicy-floral notes that are characteristic to any Priorat wine, while carignan and merlot add complexity to the blend and displays those nuanced, earthy, terroir-driven notes that are so much sought-after by the wine connoisseurs. All the grapes were handpicked relatively early from the two main estate’s vineyards: merlot and syrah from the Mas Vell vineyard, while garnatxa and carinyena from the Mas del Xes vineyard – both planted on black slate and quartz soils, famously known as llicorella. The blend formula changes slightly every vintage in order to highlight the true terroir expression of the llicorella soil on any specific vintage. This particular wine has been aged partially (45% of the blend) for more than 12 months in new french oak barriques, with the remaining 55% of the wine aged in stainless steel tanks in order to retain a rounded mouthfeel. Merit is considered one of the purest representations of Priorat wine growing region manifested as a blend – the intent was to express fruitiness and earthiness with minimum influence of oak, thus showcasing as best as possible aromas of iron and the minerality of the llicorella soil. That said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
colour: medium-deep ruby color
clarity: clear ruby shades on the rim

//Olfactory
intensity: powerful & earthy
fruit profile: red fruits | black fruits
__red fruits: dried cranberry | dried pomegranate skin
__black fruits: dried black cherry | dried black plum | black cherry | black plum | aronia berry
fruit character: overripe & dried

//Flavor
non fruit: spice | oak | earthy | other
__spice: black pepper | cloves | anise
__oak: black tea | oaktree bark | sun-dried oakwood | hints of liquorice
__earthy: black soil dust | slate | granite | quartz | petrichor | compost
__other: wood polish & varnish
primary layer: fruit & earth

//Palate
sweetness: bone dry
acidity: high
alcohol: high
tannin: high
__grip: ripe
balance: good
__dominant: alcohol
body: round & firm | full body

//Taste
fruit profile: red fruits | black fruits
fruit character: overripe & dried
non fruit: earth | spice | oak
finish: long
aftertaste: seedy-crisp

//Scoring
PERINET | Priorat | Merit | 2017
variety: syrah | grenache | carignan | merlot
country: Spain
region: Catalonia | Priorat
rating: 94.4

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | can age for up to 7 years
verdict: great | a must try wine

//Prediction
RP rating: 91

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This is definitely a great wine of Spain and, with a total of 94.4 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Verdict: this is an outstanding wine blend: firm and complex with a nuanced earthy profile – a wine that is very close to the summit of its prime form, thus a wine that has the potential to withstand another 5 to 7 years of bottle ageing. It feels powerful, extracted and expressive, with exuberant acidity, very firm and ripe tannins and an overwhelming alcoholic warmth on the mouthfeel. On the nose the wine delivers overripe and dried fruits and some very nuanced earthiness in the foreground, supported by an intense, spicy-oaky background. All in all, this is a quite potent and muscular wine, with a very nuanced, fruity-dusty mouthfeel and an appealing seedy-crisp aftertaste. What can we add more besides that Merit is an honest and fair expression of the Priorat terroir, with its famous black slate and quartz, llicorella soils.

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