2017 Blai Ferré i Just Billo

$45

Out of stock

SKU 004544 Categories , Variety, , , Vintage Country Region Producer Features, , , , Format750ml bottle

ABV14%

This is as pure an expression of Priorat’s amazing llicorella schist terroir as you are likely to see. Uncluttered by winemaking, and uncovered by oak, the soil rings out on the nose and sings through the palate. Everything is place (grape FX are in there somewhere, for sure): sweet blue-note licorice and smoke, cold and damp rock, balsam, boysenberry juice and flowers, a sparkly mineral ripple, really neat tannin carrying all along in an earthy gurgle. Billo loves air and although not closed or big when first uncorked, really opens out to a gentle country wine style of considerable charm and grace. Red and root vegetable fruit aromas in a gentle earthen nose with baking spice,multi- botanical balsam and a touch of anisey soot telling the llicorella. Down in the extreme south of Priorat, the Massos del Falset schist is a little earthier and less pungently mineral-smoky-tangy than say Gratallops. The palate has nice volume it’s a generous mid-weight, but all sits nicely within the rim there are no extractive bulges or heat flares, just nicely rounded fruit with a herbal-mineral-inflected gentle acid frame and a soft, easy landing. Very pleasant earthen perfumes linger and fill the mouth after swallowing and the last thing left is the pippy purity of lovely sweet, beautifully ripe seeds of grapes. Billo ages 10 months in stainless steel, without any oak addition. It’s 35% Garnatxa, 35% Syrah, 20% Samsó and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon.