Sicus Garrut Monastrell 2017

Sicus Garrut Monastrell Natural wine, 100% Monastrel, Autumnal wine, full, animal, earthy, deep. The Monastrel is a grape that gives generally high sugar, thus alcohol, plenty of colour and extraction and powerful animal aromas. From Sicus, the expression is fresher and softer, yet still with oodles of depth and grip. A wonderful wine for when the nights start to draw in, by the fire with some hearty food. Dark cherry, sweet fruits and chocolate abound, an alluring and sexy glass of red wine from a wine producer that is clearly going places.

Sicus is located in Bonastre, in Tarragona and led by a remarkably single-minded young wine craftsman called Eduard Pie Palomar.

His vineyards is all about indigenous varieties, organically grown and exclusively amphorae fermented in vessels of local clay, some of which are actually buried in the vineyards. Only 6 km from the coast, the Mediterranean influence has a huge impact on the style of the wines. The terroir is shallow clay with little organic matter and no fertilisers which restricts yields further and yields fruit with immense concentration. The favours are alive and vivid, the wines are truly beguiling. Sicus is the ultimate expression of the surrounding landscape, the salinity of the sea, minerality of the soil and the fruits and flowers of the forest. The wines are sublimely elegant, cool, soft and pure. The signature variety of the region the Sumoll finds a truly wonderful expression in this place and is one of our red wine finds of the year. Eduard himself, well he is a wild man I am told, dedicated to quality, originality and with a touch of the reckless in what he does, the wines are super cool.