Clos Erasmus 'Laurel' Priorat Catalonia, 2017

Clos Erasmus was born in an afternoon with the purchase of some old vines of Garnacha by Daphne Glorian, who happened to be in the area visiting some friends. Although she had no intention of purchasing such a plot or starting a winery, her friends (Alvaro Palacios and Rene Barbier) convinced her that amazing wines could be produced here if given the right attention. They were right.

The wine was named after the philosopher Erasmus von Rotterdam as an allusion to his essay “In Praise of Folly” and an answer to all who dubbed the enterprise pure madness. What started as a “fun” project soon became a very serious endeavor as the Priorat earned a fame that surprised all of the growers by the rapidity of its ascent. Clos Erasmus is now considered one of the benchmarks of the region and has received consecutive 100 Point scores from the Wine Advocate, the only wine of Spain to ever achieve such critical praise.