2019 Partida Pedrer Rosat
An amazing and truly distinctive rosé
£145 per 6 bottle case in bond
You will, no doubt, have seen a fair few offers of pale, provençal rosés coming from other wine merchants, heralding the start of summer. Whilst there is always a place for those easy drinking, refreshing and inoffensive styles of rosé, I want to bring your attention here to something infinitely more characterful, distinctive and, in my mind, enjoyable.
We first offered the 2018 vintage of this very special rosé, completely new to Atlas, back in 2021; it is the Partida Pedrer Rosat from Priorat in north-eastern Spain. It was incredibly well received, with so many clients commenting on this highly individual wine. Without question, I would say it is one of the most fascinating rosés I have ever tasted, and I can happily report that the 2018 was no flash in the pan; the 2019 is equally as, if not more compelling. The 2018 received a glowing endorsement from Luis Gutiérrez on robertparker.com, who commented that it was an ‘amazing rosé’ and ‘a wine that transcends its color’. It received a 94-point score as you may recall, which is lofty for any rosé. He gave the 2019, offered here, 95 points. That is a serious score for any rosé, and at £145 per 6 in bond, to me it looks like a no-brainer.
A few bullet points on this wine:
1. It is made by Sara Perez and René Barbier, the younger generation of two illustrious Priorat estates, namely Mas Martinet and Clos Mogador.
2. It is a wine produced in tiny quantities from their Bellvisos vineyard, a challenging, sloping site with the typical ‘llicorella’ schistous soils for which the region is famed. As I have said before, there are far easier places to make wine.
3. The grapes are grown organically, and Sara and René embrace biodynamic principles, without feeling the need to state this openly, it is simply their personal philosophy.
4. The wine is produced in a 'natural' manner, meaning no sulphur dioxide is employed in its production. Sulphur works to protect a wine against oxidation and also possesses anti-bacterial benefits among other properties. It takes skill and dedication to produce clean, pure natural wines with no sulphur dioxide. A whole host of natural wines that I have tasted have exhibited faults, but this need not always be the case. René and Sara just happen to make their wine that way; they aren’t looking for a badge.
5. Just 1,000 bottles were made in 2019 and Atlas offers the wines exclusively in the UK. Lucky us.
2019 Partida Pedrer Rosat, Sara I René Viticultors
£145 per 6 bottle case in bond
95 points, Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate (tasted September 2022)
The breathtaking rosé 2019 Partida Pedrer Rosat is a wine that transcends its color. It's full of personality and feels completely different from any other rosé and, as a matter of fact, any other wine from the region; only their other rosés come close... It's a serious wine, and that's also reflected in the price. The only premise here is that they don't add any sulfur at any time of the process. This is a powerful wine with 14.5% alcohol, very much the result of the place and the powerful vintage. (They also produce a red wine from this same vineyard.) The wine is super tasty with an almost salty note, with very fine tannins, stony and mineral. They pick earlier to keep the acidity, and the wine matured in a 750-liter oak cask and a barrel and went through full malolactic. This improves with time in the bottle and needs at least one year after bottling. Bravo! 1,000 bottles were filled in June 2020 after 10 months of élevage. Drink 2022-2028
As we have mentioned in previous offers of this wine, don’t be afraid to give this rosé a chance to breathe – I have taken to chilling the bottle, then decanting before serving. It seems to get better and better with air. The 2018 is still drinking superbly too – so don’t be concerned if you have a few bottles remaining from last year as, unlike many rosés that aren’t aged before release, this wine could easily improve over 3-4 years.
Please let us know of your interest. The wine is in stock and available for immediate delivery.
All the best,
Laura