Maius Assemblage 2020

Have you ever thought of associating a wine with a colour? It always proves interesting and sharing your thoughts even more so. The wine we're presenting here, Maius Assemblage, makes us think of the colour blue, and its label couldn't be more appropriate, and in our opinion so is the one for this bodega's other wine: a blue capsule for Maius Assemblage, a red capsule for Maius Classic; aromas of violets and minerality from that blue-toned slate in the former, and mature fruitiness, evolving and earthy in keeping with the most classic Priorats in the latter. Both offering excellent value for money. Maius Assemblage is a red and black fruit cocktail poured into a glass, sprinkled with the perfume of violet-hued flowers and droplets of sweetness, encased by that sensation, always so difficult to describe but unmistakeably apparent, which is the Priorat character. Is it the balsamic freshness of lavender and eucalyptus? Or perhaps the minerality of that dark rock which absorbs the summer sun's red-hot heat so as to convey warmth and freshness simultaneously? If in the Maius Classic, made solely from Garnacha and Cariñena, those two native varieties, the Priorat character reigns supreme, in the Assemblage, with 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, it is definitely evident; in view of such a powerful terroir, the character of a variety is bound to take second place. Maius Assemblage is full of life and contrasts, like its environment. Its entry on the palate is pleasant, smooth, and although intense not at all aggressive, and it boasts a particular elegance; it is complex on the palate and offers juicy fruit (hints of very ripe pears)as well as oily notes of supple leather, earthiness, spices, balsamic touches and a citrus background. It is flavoursome, persistent and ends with a complete, fruit-charged, fresh and mineral finish. A profound wine, revealing a harmonious contrast of warmth and freshness, of dryness and moisture: the Priorat landscape served up in a glass. Extremely well done!