Clos Mogador, Rene Barbier - Clos Mogador 2017

I also tasted the 2017 Clos Mogador next to the 2018 vintage. The varietal mix has been slowly changing, with less Cabernet and Syrah and more and more Cariñena. In 2006, they started fermenting with indigenous yeasts, and in 2011 they introduced oak foudres. It was bottled in June 2019, after 18 months in 300-liter barrels and 2,000-liter oak vats. 2017 was a tough vintage, a very warm and extremely dry year, and the character of the wine is almost opposite from 2018. The wine had a very slow fermentation, as they used larger volumes for the fermentation, and the challenge was to keep the freshness. The wine has a full 1% more alcohol than the 2018, but there is very good acidity that keeps the wine balanced. It has dusty tannins and very ripe flavors, with a long finish—warm and Mediterranean, a little in the style of the 2011.