BODEGAS JUAN GIL | Llicorella | Bluegray | Red Blend | Priorat | 2019
grenache | carignan | cabernet sauvignon

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Today we are going to review a wine that comes from Spain’s most famous wine-growing region: Priorat – Llicorella Bluegray Red Blend Priorat 2019 by Bodegas Juan Gil. This wine is a blend of 45% grenache, 30% carignan and 25% cabernet sauvignon, where grenache forms the wine’s main body, carignan adds herbaceousness and subtle terroir notes to the blend, while cabernet sauvignon enhances the wine’s structure and color depth. The grapes were sourced from the Priorat vineyards that are planted between pine and olive trees on terraces of black slate and quartz soils, known locally as llicorella. This particular wine has been aged for 12 months in oak barrels and is considered one of the purest representation of Priorat wine growing region manifested as a blend. That said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
colour: medium-deep purple
clarity: hazy indigo shades

//Olfactory
intensity: rich & earthy
fruit profile: black fruits | blue fruits
__black fruits: blackberry | black plum | blackcurrant
__blue fruits: blue plum | blueberry
fruit character: ripe

//Flavor
non fruit: savory | earthy | other
__savory: iron | veal | capocollo | leather
__earthy: slate | petrichor | granite | gravel | quartz | wet asphalt
__other: violets
__wood: new / medium roast

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: high
tannin: high
__grip: fine
balance: good
__dominant: acidity
body: round | medium+

//Taste
fruit profile: blue fruits
fruit character: ripe
non fruit: earthy-savory
finish: medium+
aftertaste: crisp & seedy

//Scoring
BODEGAS JUAN GIL | Llicorella | Bluegray | Red Blend | Priorat | 2019
variety: grenache | carignan | cabernet sauvignon
country: Spain
region: Catalonia | Priorat
rating: 92.4

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | age for 3-4 years
verdict: great | a must try
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This is definitely a great wine of Spain and, with a total of 92.4 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Verdict: this is definitely one of the rising stars of the trandy Priorat wines – seedy-crisp, savory and fruity-leathery, with a nuanced earthy profile, overwhelming acidity, fine-grained tannins and a touch of alcoholic marth on the mouthfeel. The wine feels well structured and too youthful at the moment, with a medium+ body and some crisp seediness towards the end of the palate. All in all, this is a wine that is still developing, as in its current state it is still years away from the summit of its prime form, therefore we would strongly recommend for at least 3 or 4 more years of bottle ageing. On the nose, the wine meets you with ripe blue fruits in the foreground, supported by a terroir-driven earthy background, with nuanced notes of slate, gravel and wet asphalt to name just a few. What this wine lacks today is some elegance and finesse on the palate, traits that will surely come with time. Enjoy!
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