Winery: Venus La Universal

Country / Region: Spain / Catalunya, DO Montsant

Date Winery was established: 1999

Grape Variety: Garnatxa, Syrah, Carinyena, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot

Alcohol Content / Volume: 13,5%

First Vintage Released: 2001

Ratings: 93 pts. (2017) Robert Parker

Decanting Time: no need

Good to know: this is their especial homage to youth, to its tenacity, to love and to the Garnatxa (Grenache) grape variety. The wine comes from their "sauló" (decomposed granite) soil plots in Falset and it is full of delicious fruitiness. Part of the wine is aged in concrete tanks to maintain its extraordinary freshness and purity.

This wine comes from a plot of 10 hectares of degraded granite land called gravel. The sandy gravel structure and graceful texture changes temperature rapidly depending on the climate. Heated during the day and cools at night, allowing the grapes a good and long maturation.

Garnatxa coming from gravel is an explosive fruit expression and turn into a deep dark contrast due to day / night temperature. They try to maintain this expression thanks to the minacious work with whole grain, medium duration of maceration and very respectful ageing of the fruit in clay amphora or concrete tanks.

60% of the wine is aged for 16 months in different wood barrels from 300L up to 4000L and the remaining 40% in concrete tank to emphasize the fruit.

The history of Venus La Universal is born from the connection between two of the best producers in Priorat (René Barbier and Sara Perez). Rene started out in the world of wine at Clos Mogador in 1992 with his father. He has spent more than 20 years of his life dedicated to wine. For the first 10 years, he worked mainly in the winery and whilst he was there, he realized that in order to advance further, he needed to be out working the land.

In 2001 he had the option of buying a small old vine “coster” (steeply sloping) traditional vineyard called Els Bellvisos. This vineyard had been abandoned and it was fascinating, sitting right in the middle of a steep grove of holm oaks, spectacular…a spot where he could learn about growing grapes.

It was at this same time that another great influence entered his life in the form of Sara Pérez, (daughter of one of the pioneers in the region, Josep Lluis Perez and winemaker of Mas Martinet since 1996). Together with Sara, they brought the vineyard back into production. It was an uncompromising spot, which however offered them the chance to make a wine which was at one with nature. They embarked on a project which was based on their philosophy on life: a sustainable, organic project where they could close the circle of life!

René and Sara have taken the goddess as their inspiration for this project. One of their stated goals is “to interpret femininity through a bottle of wine”. This might seem an odd choice for a bodega that elaborates Grenache and Carignan based wines in Southern Cataluña, but it makes sense once you taste. These are incredibly elegant, refined, sensual expressions of DO Montsant, with restrained alcohol levels and tremendous texture.