Years ago, the Catalonian government initiated a pull-out program endorsing farmers to rip out their Carignane and plant Grenache and other preferred varietals. Carignane is vigourous, and under certain vineyard practices, can produce a large quantity of fruit at diminished quality. As a result, much Carignane was made into “jug wine”. It gave the grape a poor reputation.

When crop load is controlled, however, or when vines are very old, Carignane produces rich, round, full-bodied, vibrant wine with soft tannins and bright acidity. The best can age gracefully. These are special wines worth pursuing.

The flagship wine of the property, “Doix”, is 55% Carignane and 45% Grenache. The grapes come from vines between 80 and 115 years old, with small, exceptional average production of around 400 grams per vine. Harvested by hand and transported to the winery in small crates, the fruit ferments in small lots. It matures around 16 months in new French oak barrels before it is bottled unfined and unfiltered. The extraordinarily tiny yields means that each vine produces enough juice to fill one-quarter of a bottle. The Cariñena brings herbs, flowers and spices to the palate, together with mineral freshness while the Garnacha provides perfume and plush red fruit flavours.

“The 2019 Doix Costers de Vinyes Velles is dense, powerful and ripe, full-bodied and with notes of ripe berries, graphite and earth. This is a ripe vintage, despite having similar alcohol levels as other vintages. There are plenty of tannins that might need a little bit of time to resolve. 1,200 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2021.”
94 points, Luis Gutierrez, September 2022