Last week, I presented an overview of Perelada, the Catalonia producer who I visited during a media jaunt in late 2024 (along with a crap-ton of wine highlights from their lineup). This week, we’re going in a totally different direction, and focusing on one of Perelada’s smallest (but most impressive) parcels: Finca Garbet.
Located on the Spanish coast in a village with the unfortunate name of Coilera sits a picturesque little beach named Garbet, and above it you’ll find Perelada’s small (9 hectare) vineyard holding that shares the beach’s moniker. This site wowed me for a few reasons, the most pertinent of which is that Perelada’s best reds are sourced from it.
It doesn’t hurt that the spot has lovely views of the water and the Cap de Creus (Catalinoa’s first maritime-terrestrial natural park) almost directly across from it. That view is what led Perelada’s founders the Mateu family to the spot in the first place, as this was their summer haunt. The Languedoc is nearby; France’s border is about a fifteen minute car ride.
Garbet is not an obvious place for viticulture, despite the slate soils that force the vines’ roots to struggle a bit. Farming on the slopes there is not easy, requiring terracing and manual labor. The term “heroic viticulture” came up more than once during my brief visit there. Aside form the obvious benefits of a maritime influence mitigating heat, the spot is windy, which helps reduce stressors from disease and pests. Plantings currently consist mostly of Grenache, Syrah, and a bit of Merlot, with plans to add Grenache Blanc in the future.
There’s something about the wines from Finca Garbet. It’s not that they are the most complex wines of Spain (though they are complex); it’s that they shine with a savory, mineral intensity and a balance that feels organic, as if that balance just is because of where the vines are grown.
2020 Perelada ‘Aires de Garbet’, Empordà, $NA
The name is an ode to the windiness of the spot where this 100% Garnacha red is sourced. Aged in 300L barriques for fifteen months, this gives off ample spice on the nose, with very ripe and polished red fruits and garrigue herbal notes. Very mineral, with balsamic notes, this red is impressive in how it offers color, concentration, and structure without ever getting tiring to drink.
2019 Perelada Finca Garbet, Empordà, $170
This has been their flagship red since its first release in the 2001 vintage. 100% Syrah, which also was aged in 300L barrels (for up to two years) and then rested for about three years in bottle. Coffee, graphite, smoked meat, peppercorn, white pepper, blueberry, black plums, incense… there is a lot going on at first sniff. In the mouth, it’s a luxurious and darkly alluring red—powerful, long, structured, refined, and spicy.
2021 Perelada Finca Garbet, Empordà, $170
With this vintage, the wine spent twelve months in oak. There’s less cocoa, wood, incense, and coffee action here than in the 2019, but a lot more pepper and floral notes. The garrigue herbs are darker, too, as are the palate fruit flavors (like sour black cherry). The mouthfeel comes in softer, but still carries impressive structure. It might not be as overt as the `19, but it’s every bit as alluring and stellar.
Cheers!