| Roughly speaking, when you try to explain wine to people, you just make simple comparisons and contrasts. Oregon Pinot Gris, if you haven't had it, seems like a simple, friendly kind of Italian Pinot Grigio, only without the minerally dustiness. It's not at all like French Pinot Gris, with its pungent nose, richness, fat, earth and occasional residual sugar
Of course, this only works if people know the wines to which you refer: if they don't know Italian Pinot Grigio or Alsace Pinot Gris, well, then it's not much help. I'd add that their lives are demonstrably impoverished as well, but that's just me. I'm trying to drink everything, as quickly as I can But some wines defy description: maybe Alsace Pinot Gris is one of those. Old Aussie Semillon would be another, along with some other vinous oddities from around the world, like my neighboring vine, the Norton. So while I like to describe Priorat as "dry Port", I'm not sure that really explains exactly the power, richness, intensity, fruit, earth, flora and perhaps even fauna of great Priorat. With a young Port, you can get a hefty dose of most of those, along with some sugar. Priorat is, in contrast, bone dry, hence "dry Port." But that's not exactly it. So how about this one: think of the most intense Barossa Valley Shiraz, and then remove the sugar (okay, only a few of Barossa Shiraz have some residual sugar) and the excessive American oak, coconut-to-sawdust notes and add some dried leaves and flowers and then, most importantly, add tart fruits in the finish. You see, while Priorat is a uber-ripe bomb, unlike the uber-ripe wines of the New World, there is something under-ripe about it too. I guess you could say it's similar to Amarone in that, except it's not really like Amarone. And to make matters worse, Priorats vary from estate to estate: some are earthier than others, some are built with more Carinena than others, others eschew the grape altogether for the more noble Garnacha, some use only French oak and so on. Along that continuum, Clos Erasmus is amongst the most intense wines the region offers. But Erasmus owner Daphne Glorian crafts wines of unabashed vibrancy and generosity, with impeccable balance. Charlotte residents are lucky that Daphne makes her home here and so they get more than their fair share of these dynamos. The 2000 we're tasting this weekend should offer the best possible explanation of what the region does that is so incomparable and indescribable.
Happy Tasting and we'll see you Saturday!
Doug Frost, MS MW
Master Sommelier & Master of Wine | 
