Ferrer Bobet Priorat Vinyes Velles 2018
Ferrer Bobet
Ferrer Bobet's old-vine Priorat bottling captures the essence of warmth radiating from ancient llicorella slate — a wine that speaks before you find the words. This 2018 has reached a gorgeous drinking window where concentration meets elegance, offering serious depth at a price that undercuts many of its Priorat peers. A bottle built for contemplation beside a low fire.
Kit Aromas
Nose
An entrancing first breath of crushed blackcurrant and ripe black cherry gives way to aromatic layers of dried violets, graphite, and cracked black pepper. Beneath that mineral architecture sits a quiet warmth of toasted oak and dried Mediterranean herbs, like rosemary left near an ember.
Palate
The entry is plush and concentrated, with dark berry fruit and a dusty, slate-driven minerality that speaks unmistakably of the llicorella soils. Finely integrated tannins carry flavors of cedar, licorice, and dark chocolate, while a persistent undercurrent of warm garrigue spice builds through the mid-palate.
Finish
Long and warming, with lingering notes of smoked minerals, sweet tobacco, and a faint echo of violet that refuses to fade. The tannins recede gracefully, leaving behind a deeply satisfying, ember-like glow.
- Varietal
- Carignan
- Blend
- Old-vine Carignan and Garnacha
- Vineyards
- Pre-phylloxera old vines planted on steep llicorella (slate and quartz) terraces in Porrera, Priorat DOCa
- Alcohol
- 14.5%
- Organic / Biodynamic
- No
Food Pairing
A slow-braised lamb shoulder, its meat falling from the bone in tender shreds, served with a smoky romesco sauce of charred peppers and toasted almonds alongside roasted fingerling potatoes. The lamb's richness mirrors the wine's concentration, while romesco's smoky-sweet character finds a natural partner in the Priorat's mineral warmth and cedar spice.
Born from pre-phylloxera Carignan and Garnacha vines clinging to the steep, fractured slate terraces of Porrera, Ferrer Bobet's Vinyes Velles channels the radiant heat stored in ancient stone into a wine of profound, slow-burning intensity.
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