Droplets of Heaven: A Return to Clos Mesorah
Oh Barcelona! Oh Barcelona! What a mythical city, ever since I heard the great Joe Amar sing this song, joy and romanticism encapsulated this enchanted city.
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This was my second visit, the city sweeps me away! The shimmering visages of the sea, soaring architecture and beautiful streets of Catalonia make dreams come true and hold my soul aloft.
Somehow I navigate the chaos that is ESTACIO DE SANTS to find the train going to Zaragoza. My destination Clos Mesorah where my dear friends Moises and Anna Cohen produce some of the greatest wine in the world.
Living in Miami, one aught to know Spanish.. alas all I can muster is a por favor and gracias.. but everyone is so friendly and helpful..
Settling in for my 2 hour ride, sleep evades me as I stay glued to the window, the sparkling blue seas nearly touch us as we speed along the country side. Oh how I love the villages and cities untouched by time.. the names foreign and becoming.. Tarragona, Reus!
All too soon the announcement of marca-falsat arrives and I get off to the tiniest old train station in the middle of wind swept fields and endless mountains, the sun shining brightly I sit down to wait for my ride and take in the views.
My wait isn't long as David Cohen, son of Moises and Anna shows up to bring me to the winery a mere half kilometer away.
When one visits vineyards, depending on the season the view varies. On my last trip it was summer and the vines were heavy in beautiful green leaves, now in spring, the ancient vines return to life, a ritual repeated yearly in their over 100 year's, if only the vines could speak!
Clos Mesorah is just 1.5 hectares, it's a wonder that such a small winery has made such a tremendous name for itself. Producing just 7000 bottles a year. The vineyards contain Old vine carignan and syrah, recently aquired vineyards in the back added half hectare of old vine grenache increasing production to 8000 bottles.
But here in the garden of Eden, quality not quantity is the pursuit, culminating In Clos Mesorah sublim; 800 bottles of hand sorted grapes 50% old vine grenache and 50% old vine carignan. I tasted this wine from the barrels and it's one of the best wines I ever had.
For good reason 2 of my favorite writers are Steinbeck and Hemmingway.
I think of Hemmingway's Spain and Steinbeck's California when mandering around the winery estate. Cherry and pomegranate trees dot the vineyards lending their aromas and tastes to the vines.. ancient olive trees encircle, protecting the vines from the element's.
Oh fellow wine lovers, Have you ever wandered amongst the vines? Dreams of what will emerge to fill us with joy.. ye God, humans of this Earth sing your praises for gracing us the droplets of heaven.
Soft breezes carry the honey rich Jasmine and wild mountain aromas.. under the arch I sit, with Catalan's finest wines and melt from time.
Moises and Anna are the most gracious of hosts, when I arrived everyone was hard at work in the winery, blending and tasting. Who could or would forget me? As I was handed sample after sample of wine from barrel and tank.
Dear reader, if you have not stood in the winery's cold, absorbing the heavy oak and wine aromas, tasted from barrel and tank, you lay in the entrance to glory and the shadow of greatness.
For to drink a wine in it's creation, is to watch an artirst at work.. would you not have peered over Picasso's shoulder, gaped at Michealangelo or snuck in on Rembrandt?
And here is the same, wine in the barrels make ones mind wander and dare one to guess what might the final result be.
It was not till after 10pm that we retired to dinner, them tired from hard work and myself, well all this fantastical dreaming and floating made me want some more wine.
Moises must love me because the first wine was a clos mesora 2010, followed by El 26 2006, Volcanus 2010 Petite Verdot and of course some Cava Brut.
What we've tasted so far
Clos Mesorah: https://elkwine.com/products/elvi-wines-clos-mesorah
Clos Mesorah Garnatxa: https://elkwine.com/products/elvi-clos-mesorah-garnatxa
Clos Mesorah Sublim 2018: https://elkwine.com/products/elvi-clos-mesorah-sublim-2018
El 26: https://elkwine.com/products/elvi-el26
Cava Brut: https://elkwine.com/products/elvi-cava-brut
We drank, we spoke, we ate and we drank some more.
Did you know how to eat bread the Spanish way? First one cuts a piece of garlic and rubs it on the bread, afterwards one does the same with a tomato and then generously pour olive oil on it.
But it is the wine we are here to talk about and drink.
Clos mesora the wine is a blend of grenache and carignan from vines over 100 years old, the syrah is newer. together these wines form an erotic and aromatic wine rich with fruit and berries passionate fragrances of wild flowers and herbs.
Drinking the 2010 was a passionate affair, it's exciting to have such a wine opened by the winemaker, eager to share his treasures, the hard work of his hands and the gifts of the soil.
The winery and wines are organic, Moises believes deeply in letting God and nature create the wines, without human intervention. As we stroll in the vineyard, Moises points out the rich limestone with layers and layers of colors.. he scoops up some dirt, small worms crawl out, it is these worms who till the soil, creating a rich bio diversity free from chemicals and machines.
The 2017 Clos Mesorah freshly blended in tanks is truly an extraordinary wine, vivid and bold, deep and intense, bawdy and yet modest.. this wine arouses the heart and uplofts the soul as I gaze along the vineyards it came from, I want to sing. What a beautiful thing this wine is, how sweet and delightful she is now in her youth, but patience will reward her lover with a wine that will mature and evolve displaying wisdom and sophistication. Her body will remain firm as the age softens the tannins, lucky is the man who patiently awaits as she rests.
Similarly the 2010 rewarded us for the wait and revealed a rich scented, multi layered wine.. a journey into wine heaven.
When Moises and David opened the EL26, I already knew I was in for a treat, a wine of the priorat a region famous for it's slopping Rocky soil. The 2006 was a fantastic wine, rich and deep.
It's already passed 1am before we finish, rich sweet winds heavy with history waft in... Sweeping me back to Spain's beautiful past when Halevi drank jars of wine in Toledo and wrote the sonnet's of the angels.
Here, deep in the mountains of Monsat it's dark and quiet. The skies bright with millions of stars, off to bed I go, tomorrow we will travel to the priorat region where the vines grow from the mountains.
Now behind chapter 2;
The first part of this story was written In 2019 prior to COVID.
I always struggled to put the next day to paper, to move beyond the magical night.
I said; I'll finish this when I go back... I returned in July of 2024, I found myself dreaming on the train from Taragona to Madrid, having completed a whirlwind magical 24 hours at Clos Mesora with the Cohen's.
Extreme heat sent me into the pool on arrival. As the weather cooled about 7 we headed off to the new winery in the Priorat
This gorgeous stunning building blends into the mountains.
We tasted through the growing number of Elvi and clos Mesorah wines. A Grenache, siblings and others. The new winery is also a passing of the torch in some ways, with Leah Cohen the winemaker and a new generation.
The night saw us sharing dinner under the luminous skies dotted in stars and cool summer mountain breezes. Cold gazpacho with cucumbers and other delicious foods, the memories are forever etched in me and repeatedly contribute to the magical beauty of wine, friends and terroir.
Wines from this trip
Clos Mesorah Extra Virgin Olive Oil: https://elkwine.com/products/clos-mesorah-extra-virgin-olive-oil
Elvi Siblings by Mesorah 2022: https://elkwine.com/products/elvi-siblings-by-mesorah-2022
Elvi Herenza Crianza: https://elkwine.com/products/elvi-wines-herenza-crianza
Elvi Herenza Reserva: https://elkwine.com/products/elvi-herenza-reserva
Elvi Herenza Collection: https://elkwine.com/products/elvi-herenza-collection