Constellations: a 21st-century Priory, without sulfites or complexes

Alba Domènech, our protagonist today, doesn't come from a winemaking family, nor does she own vineyards or a winery. She studied human biology and completed a doctorate in biomedicine. "I studied oxidative stress, which all organisms suffer from, and that is the basis of aging," she explains. And it was during that doctorate that she worked with the fascinating and magical world of yeasts. This is where it all began. "I returned to Falset, where I'm from, and at the Wine Technology Park I met Josep Lluís Pérez." He is the founding viticulturist of Mas Martinet, an essential figure, a wine genius recognized and respected everywhere. He is also the father of Sara Pérez, the winemaker who inaugurated this cheerful section. "I went with Josep Lluís Pérez and his grandchildren, Sara and René's children, to a place they owned, which they called Cal Millonari. There we learned to plant, to experiment, to microvinify..."

And so, playing, she made the first vintage. "I made it with vats, with the skins for infusion, and I got the bug. It was in 2018. I made 300 bottles, and they weren't, yet, the Constelados. It was called Cinc-Prima, with an uppercase hyphen, which is the reading pattern used with the protein-based wines of the Va. Tres-Prima."

This artist, passionate about science, a woman who breathes wine and harmony, made her first vintage alone in 2019. But, once she had the wine pressed, she went to live in Munich (with her partner) with the idea of coming back. "I was thinking of keeping it in the vat for two months. And with the lockdown, I said to a friend: "Albert, could you move the wine in the vats for me?" And he did. In the end, I came back because everything was at a standstill there, I couldn't find work. It was 2020. And then I told my friend, "Yes, I did." He said yes, and the first vintage, 2020, was with him, and the last with him, 2023. There were too many things going on, and I couldn't continue.

He likes to say that Constelado is four things, and he's absolutely right. "Pure, whole, authentic, and complex." Authentic, because it comes from the vineyard and doesn't add or take anything away. That's why he also says it's pure: there's nothing that doesn't come from the grape. Whole, because it doesn't clarify; only gravity acts, causing the sludge to settle to the bottom. And complex, because it works with all the parts of the grape: stem, skin, and pulp.

This wine is a modern Priorat. The classic Priorat used a lot of extraction, but she seeks and achieves a fresh, easy, unmasked wine. "The wood doesn't matter here as it does in France," she says, referring to the casks, "and you'll get the vanilla notes in Priorat or the Rhône." Here, then, is a wine with the character of Priorat's slate and the freshness of Montsant. "A 21st-century Priorat without sulfites or complexes!" she exclaims. And I say to her: "You should put this phrase on your website!"

Drink, then, this homage to Garnacha, which has always been the reigning variety in Priorat. 2022 is a reflection of the vintage, the climate experienced. It's a warm year (we are, now, tasting the drought wines) that has intense, ripe, red fruit. Cherry candied, strawberry, fig, jam, licorice, angel hair. It's not a "linear" wine. Each year is each year. "I learn as I make it. Constelados was originally a blend of Garnacha and Cariñena, but now it's become a single-variety Garnacha. I make the Cariñena in Montsant."

A wine is many things, and this one has a label that's captivating. "It was made by Marina Capdevila; we went to class together, and she paints murals around the world. Her muses are older people. Transgressive people, without complexes... If you go to their website, what she did for me for the white Garnacha is an elderly lady on horseback... With the first wine, we guided her more, but she wanted to and I said of course."

The winery where they "let" her vinify is in Gratallops, the vineyards are in Morera and Porrera, because she wants to give us the typicality of the slate in Porrera and the freshness and acidity of high-altitude wines, at the foot of Montsant. Enjoy this wine by Alba Domènech, a scientist who makes wine to bring out her artistic side (wine is a sum of science, magic, work and art). After tasting it, after finishing it, you will want to invite her for a drink, because you will want to meet her. And then it will mean that they are constellated, united.