"Medium deep red with violet, ripe cherry flavours and blueberries. Smooth well integrated oaky, toasty aromas. Medium bodied, fruit driven, fine ripe sweetness with good acidity which is perfectly balanced with the round ripe tannins culminating in a long ripe fruit finish."
A little village of 400 people hidden in the hills of the Catalan countryside inland from Tarragona, exists mostly for its co-operative. Growing olives and a little cereal, but mostly grapes with around 220 hectares of vineyard, Capçanes, alone in the Montsant DO almost certainly has more old vine Garnacha than the whole of Priorato. Lauded some years ago by the International Herald Tribune as one of the best co-ops in the world, Capçanes was at the forefront of the movement to revitalise the wine production and economy of the Priorato region. There are around 70 families involved in the co-op and the management take their well being to heart. They have run educational programmes to convince the growers to cultivate organically, more to persuade the growers to minimise the risks they run while handling potentially dangerous chemicals as much as to preserve the environment. Nowadays over 50% of the vineyards are organic while around 90ha's have been certified.
Mas Collet is a red wine from the D.O Montsant produced by Celler de Capçanes. This wine is a blend of Cariñena (45%), Cabernet Sauvignon (35%), Garnacha (15%), Syrah (2,5%) and Merlot (2,5%), these are all local varieties found in the region.
Celler de Capçanes is located in Capçanes, Tarragona and has the privilege to be surrounded by many different types of soils: chalk, slate and clay. The uniqueness of the soils are represented in its wines.
The harvest is completed by hand between the months of September and October. The various varieties are vinified separately.
In the winery, Mas Collet is fermented at a controlled temperature between 26-28ºC. Once the must has been obtained, Mas Collet is subsequently macerated for 8-16 days. Before being aged, Mas Collet is malolactically fermented in tanks first then oak barrels.
The last stage, Mas Collet rests for 9 months in American and French oak barrels aged between 1-5 years old, medium to lightly toasted.
Before being released on the market, Mas Collet rests for an additional year in the bottle.
