2016 Celler Cal Pla Black Slate Priorat Porrera

"The 2016 Black Slate Porrera comes from a project of importer Eric Solomon focusing on the specific villages in the Priorat. The 2016 is 60% Grenache and 40% Carignan that was mostly destemmed and spent a full year in used barrels. Thrilling blue fruits, tar, rose petals, and a smoky, marine, iodine-like character all emerge from this full-bodied effort that opens up nicely with time in the glass. Tasting like it cost three times the price, it picks up more minerality with time in the glass, has beautiful balance, and great purity of fruit. It would be hard to find a better value. Drink bottles over the coming 3-5 years." Maturity 2019-2025 Review Date: April 2019

The village red 2016 Black Slate Porrera is a blend of 50% Garnacha, 40% Cariñena and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon from a balanced year. It fermented in stainless steel and concrete vats with selected yeasts and matured in 225- and 300-liter oak barrels for 12 months. The nose is somewhat reminiscent of a classical Cornas"meaty and a bit wild, with a strong granite-like sensation (even if the soil is slate and so is the name of the wine!). It's a big wine but has the kind of freshness you can get with the low pH in Priorat if you don't over-ripen, over-extract and over-oak... So, it can be done, as you can see here. 35,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2018. Review Date: August 2019