Ferrer-Bobet - Selecció Especial Vinyes Velles 2019

Druva

Cariñena

Tasting note

The top of the range, the Selecció Especial is pure Cariñena from centenary vines on a "coster" (slope) of llicorella slate in the village of Porrera. The wine matured in 225-liter French oak barrels for 19 months and is going to be kept in bottle for a couple of years, as it won't be released until late 2021. This has higher alcohol and higher acidity than the other 2018s, and the balance is in a different point. This is a powerful Cariñena with a strong Priorat character. The tannins are fine-grained, and the wine is seamless and textured, with a strong mineral sensation (again, a texture), finishing with a salty twist. This is superb, the finest vintage I have tasted of this wine. 3,898 bottles and 150 magnums were filled in July 2019.

Ferrer-Bobet is the Priorat project from Sergi Ferrer-Salat and Raül Bobet, two well-known figures in the world of Spanish wine, as Ferrer-Salat was the owner of the (unfortunately now-closed) wine bar Monvinic in Barcelona and Raül Bobet used to be winemaker and later CEO of Torres, among other things. In Priorat, they settled in Porrera where they have 20 hectares of vines planted between 2004 and 2006 and rent a further 10 hectares of 70+-year-old vines, all within the limits of the village. From those, they produce between 50,000 and 55,000 bottles of wine, with a big focus on Cariñena. 2017 was a warm and dry year with an early vintage that suited Cariñena better than Garnacha... Warm vintages in Priorat are years for Cariñena. They define the style of their wines as "in seek of elegance and freshness, avoiding over-ripening and over-extraction to enhance the characteristics of the terroir."

The wine team - Ferrer-Bobet

2018 - Robert Parker Wine Advocate - 96p
2017 - Robert Parker Wine Advocate - 97p
2016 - Robert Parker Wine Advocate - 96p
2015 - Robert Parker Wine Advocate - 94p
2014 - Robert Parker Wine Advocate - 94p

Ferrer-Bobet is the project from Sergi Ferrer Salat and Raül Bobet in Porrera (Priorat) where they have 20 hectares of 20-year-old vines and 30 more hectares rented old vines between 70 and 100 years of age all in the village. They use exclusively 225-liter French oak barrels for their wines. Production averages 50,000 bottles of only two wines. Their current wines are from 2019, a year with a heat wave in June and the lack of rain (which today seems to be the new normality) that resulted in a year of concentration and power when the thing was to avoid over ripeness and achieve freshness and balance.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate