🇪🇸 Black Slate La Vilella Alta Vi de Vila Priorat 2019

This is Priorat doing the most, in the best way. Slate-soaked, seriously concentrated, and built for anyone who likes their reds with a little menace.

Wine Description 

Black Slate La Vilella Alta is a “Vi de Vila” style Priorat red that leans into place, not polish, with fruit selected from the village of La Vilella Alta and its famous llicorella slate mixed with patches of clay-limestone. It’s a project built on the village-wine idea that Priorat formalized as “Vins de Vila,” and it shows up in the glass as depth and intensity, not cute little party tricks. 

It’s made under the Mas Alta umbrella, with Damià del Castillo Blaise listed as winemaker, and the Black Slate cuvée itself described as a collaboration involving Eric Solomon, Bixente Oçafrain, and Philippe Cambie. Translation: serious people, serious site, zero interest in making a shy wine. 

Vine-To-Table: Meet the Winemaker 

Damià del Castillo Blaise is listed as the winemaker for Mas Alta on Third Leaf’s producer page, and Mas Alta has publicly described him as its technical director and enologist. If you like your reds with control and structure underneath the wild Priorat landscape, that detail matters.

The Vibe 

Rustic-luxe energy with a tailored jacket on top: village-driven Priorat that feels grounded in the hillside, not designed in a boardroom. This is the bottle you open when you want the table to quiet down for a second because the wine just walked in.

What it tastes like

Our reliable sources describe it as dense and intensely flavored, built from Garnatxa and Carinyena with small additions of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, and that tracks with what you should expect: a concentrated, dark-fruited core with that stony Priorat grip that clings in the best way. Specific published tasting notes for the 2019 vintage from major critics were not available in the sources we could verify. 

Pairing + When to drink it 

Give it something with real flavor and some fat, like lamb, grilled meats, or mushrooms, and let it breathe a bit so it can stop acting mysterious and start acting generous. Drink now with air if you like power, or hold if you enjoy watching tannins calm down and behave.

Quick Specs

• Producer: Mas Alta (Black Slate project) 

• Winemaker: Damià del Castillo Blaise 

• Region/Appellation: DOQ Priorat, Catalunya, Spain 

• Grapes: Garnatxa, Carinyena, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah 

• Vintage: 2019

• Farming: Sustainable

• Winemaking/Aging: Concrete fermentation with extended maceration; aged 12 months split between concrete and French oak, with partial new oak 

• Bottle size: 750ml 

Critic Reviews

Reviewed vintages:

• Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate (WA): 91 points
  Reviewed vintage: 2020
  

• Jeb Dunnuck (JD): 93 points
  Reviewed vintage: 2018
  

FAQs 

Q: What does “Vi de Vila” mean in Priorat, and why should I care?
A: “Vi de Vila” refers to Priorat’s village-level classification, designed to highlight the typicity of a specific municipality rather than the broader DOQ. The DOQ Priorat has positioned Vins de Vila as a key step toward more precise site classifications. 

Q: Is La Vilella Alta actually part of Priorat’s official village system?
A: Yes, La Vilella Alta is one of the Priorat villages referenced in the DOQ’s “Els Noms de la Terra” framework, which lays out the region’s classification pyramid including Vi de Vila. That matters because it reinforces the whole “name the place, not the marketing” philosophy.

Q: Who founded Mas Alta, the estate behind Black Slate La Vilella Alta?
A: Mas Alta was founded by Michel and Christine Vanhoutte, who relocated from Belgium to the village of Vilella Alta after falling for early Priorat wines. The project also cites early help from Michel Tardieu and Philippe Cambie when establishing the bodega. 

Q: What is “llicorella,” and does it actually show up in this wine?
A: Llicorella is the local name for the schist slate that defines much of Priorat’s vineyard geology, and it is explicitly listed as a key soil type for this bottling. The wine also cites clay-limestone pockets in the mix. 

Q: What’s the concrete-fermentation detail on this bottle?
A: The producer info we could verify states the fruit is fermented in concrete with natural yeast and a 30-day maceration. That’s a very specific choice for texture and structure, and it’s not just a label flex. 

Q: How is Black Slate La Vilella Alta aged, exactly?
A: Third Leaf’s published details say it spends 12 months split between concrete tank and French oak barrels, with some portion of new oak noted. It’s a hybrid approach that aims for power without turning the wine into a lumberyard.