Carinyos, 2015

Jordi Escoda and Agustí Perelló, friends from infancy, grew up in the village of El Molar in Priorat. As kids from El Molar, they were teased and nicknamed “los comuns” by the other kids in Priorat because of a time in the 1800s when there was a cholera epidemic that particularly affected the village of El Molar. Children from the village were forced to wear smocks to identify them so that other children wouldn’t go near them. They were hence dubbed ‘los comuns’. Jordi and Agustí thought this name suited their bodega perfectly. As natives of Priorat, working with old vine Carinyena and Garnatxa on pure llicorella soil, they make wines of utmostpurity which utterly sing with Priorat terroirs. They are somewhat outsiders in Priorat, yet now they dub their ‘Comuns’ smocks with pride, opting to not work within the Priorat D.O. Their wines are less classic, less extracted, less oaked. They ferment and age either in stainless steel, amphora or old oak, and the wines have remarkable purity and freshness. Relatively new on the scene, they made their first vintage together in 2010 of just 200 bottles. Their production now comes from a variety of plots around Priorat, from family parcels, mostly plots which are rockier, steeper and harder to cultivate and traverse. Their production has grown since 2010 but currently sits still very small at just 3,500 bottles in total.