Cellar Comunica - Vi del Mas, Montsant, Spain (2023)

TASTING NOTES

Considering it's anchored by 70% Garnacha and 30% Syrah, the Vi Del Mas is surprisingly fresh and zippy; driven by brambly red fruits, cherry cola, black olive, white pepper, fresh herbs, mountain flowers and slate. 

Pep Aguilar and Patri Morillo have never been ones to conform. The pair first bonded as students riding the commuter train between Barcelona and the city’s outskirts, and wound up roommates who shared an intense desire to learn, experiment and forge their own path in the world of wine. 

Finishing their studies together, they formed their own oenology consultancy which evolved into the creation of their own label - Celler Comunica - in 2010.  

They make small-batch organic and biodynamic wines in an old farmhouse estate (named the Mas d’en Cosme Estate) in the town of Falset on the border of D.O. Priorat and D.O. Montsant. The Mas d’en Cosme estate is historic, once hosting former Indian Prime Minister Nehru and his daughter, Indira Priyadarshini Nehru during their brief visit in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War. 

Pep and Patri spend more time in the vineyards than in the winery, getting to know each and every one of their vines and every inch of earth in which they grow. 

Comunica’s soils are mainly granitic, precisely the soil type Pep and Patri had been searching and dreaming of for years, allowing them to produce fresh, vibrant wines like the ones granite soils lend themselves to in D.O. Montsant.

The climate is dry, but on summer evenings, in spite of the heat, a cool breeze will blow in from the Atlantic to provide the vines and soils with moisture.

Pep and Patri use no oak at all; they prize freshness and bright clean fruit over dry extract and high alcohol. The wines are ultra-drinkable and thirst quenching, and provide a fascinating insight into a terroir that’s too often hidden behind alcohol and oak.