Marco Abella, Priorat

The Marco family trace their history in the Priorat town of Porrera to the first Catalunyan census of 1497. After a hiatus instigated by the Phylloxera outbreak and time spent in Barcelona, the family returned to the tenure of their retained lands in 1898 and eventually the modern winery and Bodega were created a century later. Their four separate terraced vineyard plots range in altitude from 200 to 700m on the steep Mediterranean influenced hillsides of the region. The local licorella slate soils are farmed biodynamically and the wines are made in their state of the art gravity fed winery, built in 2001 into the hillside.

The Olbieta Blanc and Olbieta Negre are envisioned as an introduction to the marco Abella style, offering great value mediterranean complexity. The Òlbia is Macabeo and Grenache Blanc, with a touch of Pedro Ximénez and has strong notes of sweet pear and chamomile blossom. The Loidana, a Grenache, Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon blend, provides an excellent introduction to the complexity and intensity of Priorat offering notes of red fruit and black berries with hints of silky spice. The Mas Mallola (whose blend also includes a small proportion of Merlot), represents the style of Porrera, the highest altitude Priorat village, and has raspberry, cherry, spice and incense flavours with light earth and dense velvety tannins. The Clos Abella utilizes the oldest and finest Porrera fruit and is a blend of Carignan (70%) and Grenache (30%). Black cherry, mineral, oak spices, mountain herb incense, spicy, chocolate flavours, silky tannins, good balance and a long, fresh finish are all carried aloft by fresh acidity. The extremely limited Roca Roja begins with aromas of burnt wood and spice cover rugged gritty berry scents. This is a tight, minerally and wiry Garnacha that’s sumptuous but focussed on the palate. Oak-rich plum flavours finish with strong tannins, residual grit and lasting wood-based notes.