Bottler: Portal del Priorat, C. de la Font n. 9, 43737 Gratallops / Spain
In the glass
Colour
Pale gold
Nose
Cool minerality meets sensual herbal aromas and a smoky, flinty reductive note – balanced, gripping and elegant.
Palate
Full-bodied and creamy, yet grippy and taut; ripe fruit, floral notes, a fine line of acidity and a long, enticingly saline finish.
Character
Profound and multi-layered with great tension – a white wine of real expression that combines drinking pleasure with complexity.
Pairing
Fried calamari with lemon wedges, dried figs with cheese or Mediterranean herb-infused dishes.
Notes
A rare white gem from the red-dominated Priorat; spontaneously fermented and aged for 12 months in 500-litre oak casks – entirely in Alfredo Arribas’s style: elegance over power.
Tasting note
Colour & appearance
Pale gold with a bright sheen — a wine that announces in the glass that ripeness and coolness have found their union here.
Nose
A distinctive, captivating aromatic profile: cool minerality meets wild herbs, while a smoky, flinty reductive note hovers above it all. None of this is intrusive; the intensity is high yet balanced — elegant rather than loud.
Palate
Full-bodied and creamy, yet at the same time tense and firm — this interplay of opposites carries the wine. Ripe fruit and floral notes are held together by a fine line of acidity, complemented by pressure, structure and a savoury depth rarely found in white wines.
Finish
Long and enticingly saline — a lingering finish that cleanses the palate and calls out for salty coastal cuisine.
Terroir & origin
The grapes come from high-altitude vineyards in the Priorat on limestone and clay marl soils — an exception in a region otherwise dominated by black Llicorella slate. White wine accounts for only about five per cent of the DOQ Priorat’s vineyard area; Les Margues shows why this rarity deserves attention.
Grape varieties & vinification
A cuvée of Grenache blanc and Grenache gris, spontaneously fermented and aged for twelve months in 500-litre oak casks — large-format wood rather than small barriques, ensuring the fruit remains centre stage.
Food recommendations
The saline tension and creamy richness pair brilliantly with fried calamari with lemon wedges or the contrasting sharpness of dried figs and cheese. Roasted cauliflower with tahini would also make a delightful partner.
Special features
Alfredo Arribas, once an architect in Barcelona, farms his Clos del Portal estate organically and biodynamically, harvesting earlier than many of his neighbours — and the result is palpable here too: a Priorat at a moderate 13.5% abv that combines power with agility. That this rare white from sparse high-altitude sites achieves such depth alongside such freshness makes Les Margues the quiet star of the range.
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