Castell d'Encús - Thalarn 2018

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2018 Thalarn is named after the village it comes from, where the Syrah vines were planted in 2003 on limestone rich soils at 850 to 1,000 meters in altitude. It fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel, oak vats and ancient outdoor stone pools and matured in new French oak barrels for 12 months, followed by a further three months in larger oak vats and then was kept in bottle for some three years. It's aromatic, juicy, smoky and varietal, with moderate ripeness at 13.23% alcohol and good freshness and balance. Despite what one might think, the wine is not oaky; the oak is neatly integrated and folded into the fruit. It's evolving slowly and takes time to unfurl the aromas of ripe berries and underbrush. It's powerful but balanced, with abundant, fine-grained tannins and a dry, long finish. 9,900 bottles and 100 magnums were filled in January 2020.

Castell d'Encús is the personal project of winemaker Raül Bobet in the Costers del Segre appellation. He planted new vineyards at high altitude—over 1,000 meters above sea level—and hence in a fresher zone, and those are coming into production starting with the 2020 vintage. He now works 22 hectares of vineyards that are over 15 years old and a further six hectares from the younger plantings, all in the village of Talarn. He produces 90,000 bottles of very high quality wines.