El Pas De L’Estudiant 2021

We are happy to introduce El Pas de l’Estudiant, the much-awaited new Spanish red wine from Josep Grau Viticultor winery in DOQ Priorat.

A blend of the varieties Hairy Grenache and Carignan, this red wine from Priorat is produced from a single parcel called El Pas de l’Estudiant, (meaning “the student’s trail”), a vineyard of untamed beauty planted in 1947 on limestone-rocky soils. The name is a reference to the 5,5 km distance that the children living in the Serra d’Almos area had to walk every day to get to the nearest school, located in the village of Capçanes.

North-oriented and equipped with hand-carved drainage canals, the terraced vineyard is located on a steep slope at roughly 320 metres of altitude, in a well-ventilated area with excellent sun exposure. Neglected for decades, only 1.5 of its 4 hectares are currently under vine. However, the rest of the vineyard is being meticulously restored by Mr. Josep Grau, who is determined to bring the site, one of the most beautiful in the whole of Priorat, back to its original splendor.

The 2021 vintage of this Crianza red wine greatly benefited from the heavy January 2021 snowfall, which left precious water reserves in the soil and energized the plants by allowing them to go into full winter dormancy mode. Farmed following organic techniques, the vines were harvested in mid September and meticulously sorted. The pristine grapes were fermented in Tuscan terracotta amphorae for 25 days, with gentle pump-overs and a very delicate extraction.

After that, the red wine El Pas de l’Estudiant 2021 was transferred into 300-litre used French oak barrels for 9 months. Before being released onto the market, the wine was kept for some further months in the bottle.

In the same league as first-rate Châteauneuf (Bonneau, Rayas), this new red wine from Josep Grau should be gently decanted 1 hour before drinking.