The wine of the week: Clos Mogador 2020

René Barbier Meyer, second generation in charge of the Clos Mogador family winery, founded by his father in Priorat, affirms that "Mogador is the maximum expression of its terroir".

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
29 April 2023 Saturday 23:01
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The wine of the week: Clos Mogador 2020

René Barbier Meyer, second generation in charge of the Clos Mogador family winery, founded by his father in Priorat, affirms that "Mogador is the maximum expression of its terroir". In other words, the vineyard is fully respected in this iconic wine that launched the top of the qualitative pyramid of Catalan wine: the Vi de Finca Qualificada. He adds that they seek to have as rich and varied a biodiversity as possible, and that they work with minimal intervention both in the vineyard and in their Gratallops cellar, obtained by digging into the rock. They exclusively use the indigenous yeasts from their vineyards, practice long macerations and carry out slow fermentations. René Barbier Meyer is convinced that "each wine is a unique and unrepeatable journey" but that with the Clos Mogador they want to "transmit and share" the essence of where it was born. His father René Barbier Ferrer confesses that he is “obsessed with the expression of terroir”. And he adds that "the identification of a wine is the photo of where it was born". For this reason he affirms that "an oenologist who does not live his vineyards automatically becomes the worst enemy of the spirit of a great wine".

A French dancer and artist and a Catalan with French origins who traded wine, the couple formed by Isabelle Meyer and René Barbier Ferrer, found a place in Gratallops in 1978 that they described as a “dream”. In 1979 they acquired Clos Mogador, their first estate in Priorat, and began to make their first wine in this area, which they baptized with the name of the estate. Although Clos Mogador is the fruit of many generations of the same family, René and his wine, which captivated Robert Parker (the founder of The Wine Advocate, the world's most influential publication in the wine sector) from the very beginning, have been one of the great references to the resurgence of the historical Priorat. René Barbier was, along with Álvaro Palacios, Josep Lluís Pérez, Daphne Glorian and Carles Pastrana, one of the great architects of the radical transformation of a Priorat that has placed many wines at the top of the world.

They say from the winery that it is "an innovative wine and at the same time traditional". René Barbier Jr. wanted to keep his father's work intact, albeit with small tweaks. In the latest update to the label design, a new drawing was introduced by his mother Isabelle, which represents the vineyards and the Clos Mogador winery with Montsant as a backdrop. For this reason, he has kept the initial blend of Clos Mogador unchanged, in which he has not renounced the international varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. He understands that climate change does not favor cabernet but, for sentimental reasons and the history of the winery, he does not want to give up this variety or start it. In fact, he has been making a monovarietal Cabernet for three years that has not yet been marketed. It is also true that they have gradually replaced part of their cabernet plantations with autochthonous varieties, the ones most exposed to the south and to the rigors of the sun.

The agricultural works are directed by Christian Barbier Meyer. The Clos Mogador vineyard is a beautiful amphitheater of slate (llicorella). They work in favor of biodiversity and polyculture (the vines coexist with almond, olive or cereal trees), following the practices of regenerative and biodynamic agriculture. They also apply the principles of permaculture and the philosophy of Masanobu Fukukoa (they try to follow the natural rhythms of the environment, without forcing them at any time). They plant plants to care for their vines, without using insecticides or pesticides. They leave autochthonous plant cover in some vineyards where they also plant barley, vetches, mustard, clover and flowers that are born at different times of the year every year to encourage the introduction of bees to their farms.

They fight against pests with macerations and decoctions of plants that grow on the farm itself or next to the Priorat river courses (horsetail, nettles, dandelion, valerian...) reproduced in their community garden. In addition, they apply biofertilizers with microbiology from nearby forests and biochar, the charcoal they obtain from plant remains and biomass residues. They also favor the proliferation of microorganisms and insects to create a more balanced environment rich in biodiversity. They even walk their chickens through the vineyards in an old camper converted into a rolling chicken coop. Their eggs are distributed among the workers. At the same time, they use very light machinery and farm animals (horses and mules) so as not to compact the land and not pollute.

Christian Barbier assures that by completely stopping using chemical products, he managed, little by little, to "turn a desert into a small oasis", favoring the arrival of insects, animals and microorganisms. His brother René affirms that from the 2016 vintage he saw a change thanks to Christian's work: "I saw more light, a wine with more life and more vibration." Since the hot and dry 2011 vintage, they have been fighting the effects of climate change, aware that a great wine should no longer necessarily be marked by a high concentration and a high imprint of aging in wood. They are now opting for fresher wines, with greater natural acidity, with a more balanced profile, avoiding makeup and with less extraction and layer. In addition to wine, they make honey and oil and now they are studying how to make the most of their almonds.

They assure from the Barbier winery that the Garnacha (45%), the Carignan (29%), the Syrah (16%) and the Cabernet Sauvignon (10%) of the Clos Mogador 2020 "transmute between the oak staves, under the careful attention of the viticulturist René Barbier Jr., to emerge, red with emotion, at the optimum moment of its maturity”. It is added that "an artisan elaboration gives birth to a few bottles full of love and generosity, prepared according to the best traditions of grands crus". The elaboration, with indigenous yeasts, is carried out with 30% stem, and with a long maceration that can range from 35 to 65 days. The pressing is done with an old and singular vertical oil press from the Vulcano workshops, from the old company Rodes Hermanos de Alcoy. They raise their Clos Mogador in 2,000-litre French oak foudres for 18 months.

The 2020 vintage was a very complicated vintage due to the historical affectation of a plague caused by the mildew fungus, which decimated the vineyards. But in Clos Mogador they were on top of the vines and managed to save part of the harvest despite an unrepentant fungus that mainly affected flowering, causing a noticeable drop in production. "We have struggled a lot this year in the vineyards," says René Barbier Meyer. And he assures that, "despite there being fewer grapes, the plants were beautiful, with much more leaf surface than usual and less water stress." He adds that "the vines lived happier this vintage due to the water reserves despite living through a very hot summer." All this gave them some berries with silky and round tannins, very well polymerized, and with special freshness despite the higher concentration.

Clos Mogador 2020, a Gratallops Vinya Classificada, has a medium robe and the color of picota cherries, with violet hues. It exhibits notes of red and black fruit on a background of vanilla, cigar box and a mineral tip (between pencil and metallic). It also presents notes of fennel, rosemary, thyme, tobacco leaf, licorice and chocolate. René Barbier likes his “black minerality”. In the taste phase it is fresh, long, with tension and with a very good acidity (without acidification). It stands out with super polished tannins, which make this red friendly, round and with a velvety tactile sensation. It is an orchestration where nothing goes out of tune.

René Barbier Meyer, who assures that "the magic is to obtain a fresh wine without green tannins", tries to avoid lactic notes, and for this reason he plays with 30% whole grapes with stems. And part of the cabernet sauvignon is also harvested early and made with carbonic maceration to achieve greater acidity, with which to refresh the blend of a wine with 15º of alcohol. The rest of the cabernet is co-fermented with the other varieties. He wants minerality to predominate over fruit and wood. It is recommended to serve the wine at a temperature of 16º. From the winery it is stated that it combines perfectly with game meats or roasts. It is also ideal with a grilled turbot. But René Barbier Meyer prefers to accompany it, for emotional reasons, with a rabbit in wine with chocolate like the one his mother Isabelle cooked. It is a dish to which he is "very fond".

The winery's annual production is 29,000 liters, which are made from the 35 hectares of its own vineyard. They currently make some 35,000 bottles a year, of which 21,000 correspond to their iconic Clos Mogador. They export 70% of their total production, mainly to Switzerland, the United States and various European countries. The key to success lies in the good understanding between the brothers René (production and marketing) and Christian (viticulture), who are the current owners. René says that he has met his brother, whom he has been with for almost 20 years, at work. He also highlights as a determining factor of his company the expressed desire to create a good work environment among the twenty workers, a very young team, promoting healthy practices and involving them to "do things they like and create synergies by sharing our philosophy". René Barbier Meyer says that “they consider us a classic, which is neither good nor bad, but my father was a hippie and my brother and I don't consider ourselves classics or immovable people, we like to evolve, even if we don't always get it right”.