Jeb Dunnuck: Portfolio Tasting with Claude Gros
In February 2023, Jeb Dunnuck, tasted a great number of wines which are supervised by consultant winemaker, Claude Gros, including the Herència Altés range. These are the results of the tasting:
WHITE WINES
Herència Altés La Serra Blanc 2020
The 2020 Terra Alta La Serra Blanca also has a Riesling-like sense of minerality and subtle diesel notes as well as crisp apple and a touch of nutty, spicy notes. As with all the wines here, it's impeccably made, has a vibrant, balanced texture, integrated acidity, and a great finish. This beauty comes from 100% Grenache Blanc vines over 100 years in age. It's a prodigious white to drink over the coming 4-5 years. - 08/02/2023
Herència Altés Benufet 2022
The 2022 Terra Alta Benufet Blanca is even more mineral-driven and has a liquid rock/limestone-like character in its bright citrus, tart peach, and green almond-driven aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, bright, and vibrant on the palate, it's a gorgeous white that readers will love. I like it today, yet it should hold nicely for 3-4 years, and I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see it evolve even longer. 08/02/2023
Herència Altés La Musaranya 2022
Honeyed lime, peach, exotic flowers, and chalky minerality (even a hint of Riesling-like petrol) all emerge from the 2022 Terra Alta La Musaranya Blanca, a medium-bodied, nicely balanced, concentrated white based on 100% Grenache Blanc. It's not yet bottled, but this will be terrific. - 08/02/2023
Herència Altés Garnatxa Blanca 2022
All Grenache Blanc, the 2022 Terra Alta Garnatxa Blanca has a medium-bodied, round, enjoyable style as well as some peach and orange blossom notes, a touch of salty minerality, and a good finish. - 08/02/2023
ORANGE WINES
Herència Altés Trementinaire 2020
Another orange wine from this estate, the 2020 Terra Alta Trementenaire (Orange) has some spiced citrus, kumquat, and orange blossom aromatics to go with a medium-bodied style on the palate. It has some background oak, plenty of mid-palate depth, and a great finish. It's geared for the dinner table, and I'd guess it will be best drunk in its youth. - 08/02/2023
Herència Altés Llunari 2022
Not yet bottled, the 100% Grenache Blanc is a clean, balanced, medium-bodied orange wine that has solid peach and orange blossom aromatics, nicely integrated acidity, and a dry, classy finish that brings some structure and an almost red wine-like sense of structure. - 08/02/2023
ROSÉ WINES
Herència Altés La Tarentina 2022
The light pink-hued 2022 Terra Alta La Tarentina rosé is reminiscent of a classy Côtes de Provence with its light strawberry and cherry fruit as well as medium-bodied, fresh, vibrant style on the palate. - 08/02/2023
RED WINES
Herència Altés Lo Grau de l'Inquisidor 2020
Even better, the 2020 Terra Alta Lo Grau De L'Inquisidor is also all Syrah from a single vineyard that was destemmed and aged 28 months in barrel. Blackberries, raspberries, graphite, ground pepper, and a kiss of iron all define the aromatics, and it's a broader, more concentrated wine than the 2019. The tannins are absolutely brilliant, and this is an incredible Syrah that I suspect will evolve for a decade. - 08/02/2023
Herència Altés Lo Grau de l'Inquisidor 2019
All Syrah, the 2019 Terra Alta Lo Grau De L'Inquisidor is a more focused, precise effort that brings medium to full-bodied richness as well as darker berry fruits, some smoky, meaty, peppery aromatics, integrated oak, and ripe tannins. It's seriously good. - 08/02/2023
Herència Altés L'Estel 2020
The 2020 Terra Alta L'Estel checks in as 50% Grenache, 40% Syrah, and the rest Carignan, from a mix of sites but primarily older vines. Blackberries, darker raspberries, spice, and peppery notes, as well as some chalky minerality, all emerge from this medium-bodied, seamless, beautifully balanced red. I love its purity of fruit, it has fine tannins, and a terrific sense of elegance. Drink bottles over the coming 5-7 years. - 08/02/2023
Herència Altés La Xalamera 2020
The 2020 Terra Alta La Xalamera has a slightly closed, reductive, yet incredibly promising style. Black raspberries, dried flowers, baking spices, and pepper all emerge on the nose, and it's medium-bodied, with a balanced, nicely layered mouthfeel, integrated acidity, and a great finish. - 08/02/2023
Herència Altés La Pilosa 2021
Lots of raspberries, strawberries, spice, and ground pepper notes emerge from the 2021 Terra Alta La Pilosa, another Pinot Noir-like Grenache that's medium-bodied, fresh, and juicy, with subtly carbonic-like character. It too will drink well for 4-6 years or so, at a minimum. - 08/02/2023
Herència Altés Garnatxa Negra 2022
The value-priced 2022 Terra Alta Garnatxa Negra is a pretty, medium-bodied, elegant, Pinot Noir-like expression of Grenache that has strawberry and raspberry fruits, some peppery herb and floral nuances, nicely integrated acidity, and a clean, lengthy finish. Made from 100% Garnatxa Negra that was only 50% destemmed, it has lots to love and should evolve for 4-5 years or so. - 08/02/2023