March 28, 2024 - Black fruit on the nose and palate with hint of spice on the finish.
March 3, 2024 - Young and green with overwhelming acid; let it sit as I think it will be excellent in a few years
February 16, 2024 - Inexpensive Blend from Priorat. Red and black fruit on the nose and palate. Drank in a Restaurant about 2 years ago and the tannins are much softer now and there is a hint of spice on the finish. I have a few more bottles and will drink soon. I don't think this is made for the long haul and it is quite pleasant now.
November 22, 2023 - Quite good, dark red fruit, blackberry, mineral cut, good length, balanced, some refinement to the palate as it carries on with clean finish. Good qpr. Drinking well now and will be interesting down the road.
March 22, 2023 - Every time I have this wine, I enjoy it, vintage after vintage.
February 25, 2023 - 4th Saturday Group brown bagger (R&S's): Blind. Lightest color of the flight with aromas of red fruit, raspberry and red plum. Medium-bodied. Bright red fruit on the palate. Lovely, with nicely ripened red berry fruit. Excellent.
January 24, 2023 - My bottom line on this is the phrase “Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove”. I’ve been enjoying the Black Slate Priorat lineup for about 5 years now, and this bottle did not disappoint. Decanted for 45 minutes.
NOSE: This stayed consistent pretty much throughout. Initial sweetish Grenache fruit, followed by an earthy blend which reminded me a bit of the flint found in some Chablis (believe it or not) mixed with little bit of woodiness, then a real nice dark mineral- floral note to finish. I find this finish on most of these Black Slate bottling. Terroir driven? Oh yes.
MOUTH: This is a structured wine. A tight core, not at all grossly tannic or woody….just a strong core…with a pretty very present and consistent veneer of that dark, minerally fruit found in these Priorat bottling. Again, IMO this is terroir driven, the Grenache and the Black Slate Geology are a beautiful match.
I like this style, probably not for those who prefer a California Central Coast Cabernet or Zinfandel.
Perhaps another way of describing this wine in a similar manner to “Iron fist in a velvet glove” could be….”If this were furniture, it would be an elegant piece of 18th century mahogany with a beautiful hand rubbed finish”.
November 29, 2022 - Decent wine but the fruit is receding.
November 2, 2022 - I bought a case, and this is the second bottle with cork taint. Be warned! I suspect a bad batch of corks went into many of these bottles...
July 15, 2022 - Very good now, but this should really improve over the next couple of years.
Cheers!