2015 Chapillon Cuvee Remy Priorat

Christophe Chapillon’s Spanish reds rocketed to the top of Wine Access members’ favorites in record time—and all it took was one sip of this expat Frenchman’s 2015 Cuvée Rémy Priorat to remind us why. Bursting with black fruit, boasting the smoky minerality that makes Priorat one of Spain’s most sought-after regions, Cuvée Rémy brings everything that we immediately loved about Chapillon’s wines, while still bearing a belief-defying price tag. 

While Priorat prices have a high ceiling—top bottlings can easily reach into the triple digits—the floor is pretty high too: We’re accustomed to paying at least $30 for reds that boast the region’s signature richness, concentration, and minerality. That’s why we’re so impressed that Chapillon, whose specialty is conjuring up incredibly over-performing wines from Spain’s under-sung regions, has produced a stunning red from one of the most prestigious places in Spain—and kept the price $20!

Every last member of our wine team who claimed cases of Chapillon’s last wine is already tapped out—too many occasions call for Chapillon’s brand of drink-now ripeness and Old World complexity. This supple, modern take on Priorat will surely meet the same fate. It’s a grab-anytime bottle that will only last long enough for friends to ask: What is this? Cue the pleasantly shocked expression when you tell them the price.

This is the bottle your friends will be begging you to bring over. The best way to make sure your supply stays strong is to take this 91-point winner home by the case, and if you’re thinking one will do, better grab two. 

Normally our communications with Christophe Chapillon move at a clip befitting a Frenchman who adopted slow-paced Spain as his home: We send an email out, and get a long, friendly one back in a week or two. Which is why when we saw his name appear on our iPhone out of the blue, we picked right up. Cristophe sounded, for him, a bit frantic. 

The small emergency was the Cristophe’s Cuvée Rémy Priorat was about to arrive in the US. Since we’d missed out on our trip to Europe (where tasting with Christophe is an annual ritual), he realized that his importer would have to overnight us a few bottles if we were interested. 

Knowing how our members have reacted to Chapillon’s other wines, our interest was a given. And as soon as the wine arrived and we took a sip, we were back on the phone, asking Christophe how much we’d have to take to secure the exclusive. He said 50 cases. We chuckled, and countered. “How about 150?” 

Originally from the Loire Valley, Chapillon headed south to Spain over a decade ago, and hasn’t looked back. He parlayed his French savoir-faire and vineyard land in prime Spanish territory into great success, and is now one of the definitive producers in the region of Calatayud.

Unlike most of his wines, which hail from Spain’s undersung regions, Cuvée Rémy hails from Priorat, one of the country’s two regions that have attained DOCa status (Rioja is the other). The arid zone is located in Catalunya, and consists of old vines that cling to the side of Priorat’s steep slopes, burrowing where they can into the black slate soils. The red wines that result are some of the most concentrated and superb in the Old World.

Vinified at the excellent Rotlan Torra winery, Chapillon’s Cuvée Rémy is an elegant, younger-drinking style of Priorat, consisting of Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Carignan. 

With the ripe black fruit deepened by sandalwood, sumac, and smoky minerals wrapped in crunchy tannins, it’s yet another massively over-delivering red from our favorite Frenchman in Spain, and another we’ll be stocking up on by the case. Lest you find yourself unprepared for every occasion fall and winter have in store, we recommend you do the same.

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 13.50%
• Enjoy right away
• Drink Up
• 35% Carignan35% Garnacha30% Cabernet Sauvignon
• Serving temperature – 60°
• Cork