Hailing from the famously rugged and stifling mountain side region of Priorat in Catalonia, Clos I Terrasses was founded in 1989 by a group of friends - two locals in Alvaro Palacios and Rene Barbier - who persuaded owner Daphne Glorian to invest her savings in some old Garnacha planted on 17 terraces of hillside vines, just outside the village of Gratallops. After ten vintages in the burgeoning region Daphne purchased an old cellar from Palacios, and since then the wines have gone from strength to strength, blending the characteristic dense fruit, exotic spice and 'licorella' minerality with a freshness and elegance that sets her wines apart from many of this now-grand appellation.

2018 Blend: 85% Garnatxa, 15% Syrah.
The grapes are selected from the winery's 11.2 ha vineyard, at 375-450 metres of altitude. The vines are 10-27 years old and are planted on the characteristic licorella soils of Priorat. The grapes come from the same parcels year after year, Escales, Aubagues and Socarrats, which are fermented and aged separately. Destemmed, sorted by hand and slightly crushed, the grapes ferment in 10-15 HL wooden vats. The macerations lasted 30-35 days. The malolactic fermentation took place over the course of a few months in barrel. The wines were aged in 228L barrels (50% new) for 20 months. Only twelve 228-litre barrels of this wine are produced.

Clos Erasmus develops slowly in the glass, revealing first the graphite aromas which have travelled all the way from its roots, followed by blackberries, cranberries, liquorice all wrapped up in soft tannins. An intriguing, juicy, teasing wine which engages your palate entirely.
Certified organic with some biodynamics

"A blend of 85% Garnacha and 15% Syrah, 2018 Clos Erasmus comes from a year with good yields and enough rain for good ripeness of the grapes. The vines are now 36 years old on average, and the grapes fermented after a cold soak in 1,000-, 1,500- and 2,000-liter oak vats with indigenous yeasts and a five-week maceration. It matured in new and second use Burgundian 228-liter oak barrels, with around 40% new oak. This is a very elegant and perfumed vintage for Clos Erasmus, a wine that reveals a bright ruby color and a exotic nose that mixes flowers with tons of sweet spices. It is still very young and influenced by the élevage in oak, with something herbal and fresh, reminiscent of pine needles. The palate is textured and velvety, lace and dust, with fine-grained tannins that bring back the memories of the slate rocks; it is pure and detailed and has terrible balance, focus, inner strength, filigree and subdued minerality. I'd wait a little bit for the oak to get integrated before pulling the cork. It has the ingredients, stuffing and balance to develop nicely in bottle for a long time. 3,319 bottles and 100 magnums produced. It was bottled in May 2020.
Drink 2022 - 2035.
99 points."
(Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate Issue 252, 30th Dec 2020)