Blankaforti 2022 - Celler Jordi Llorens

Jordi Llorens is an eighth-generation farmer at his family's estate in Blancafort, with paperwork showing that their family have been here since 1779. It is a quiet municipi on the southern slope of the Serra del Tallat, in the central part of the Conca de Barberà. The family has always farmed organically, growing their vines as part of a wider polycultural system that included fruit trees, nut trees, olive groves, and livestock. Up until Jordi returned home to take over from his father in 2007, the family sold their grapes to the local co-operative, as was the conventional practice at the time.
Seeking a deeper understanding of his family's work, Jordi completed a degree in Geology before returning home. These academic underpinnings complemented the intuitive methods his family had followed over generations, to the extent that his old friend Manel Aviñó of Clos Lentiscus once advised me that nobody understood the terrain of these hills like Jordi. Because the family had farmed in the old polycultural traditions of the region, there was already a rich biodiversity in their vineyards when he took over. Jordi's use of biodynamic methods was inspired by his friend and contemporary Joan Ramon Escoda, who had adopted the practices at his own estate in the preceding years. Above the soil, the rich biodiversity protects the vines and the soil from the increasingly arid conditions in Blancafort. Underground, Jordi cultivated a rich mycelial network that helps keep the soils healthy.
Jordi's original cellar, a cramped garage at the edge of the town, was where his family's fruit was vinified under its own name for the very first time in 2008. Today, the cellar is expanded somewhat and kept in pristine condition. Stainless and fibre tanks are used for the short, gentle macerations Jordi prefers. Through a small door, Jordi keeps a cool, compact room for ageing, with amphora sunk into the gravel underfoot and barrels and demijohns lining the walls. Work at the cellar is carried out with patience and ease, and Jordi employs gentle temperature control during fermentation to preserve the delicate aromatics we love in his wines.

The estate itself is situated on the eastern Ebro basin. The soils here formed about 35 million years ago and can be broken into three distinct layers each exposed at different points across the estate. The oldest layer is blueish-white calcareous sandstone, with the majority of the white varieties planted on these outcrops. Next we have red marl, useful for water retention through the hot summers. The top layer is gypsum, which helps to keep the soils open and breathable. With the cool nights at this elevation helping to keep the ripening even, we have this fascinating configuration of conditions that Jordi articulates in such delicate detail in his wines. With 16 hectares in total, Jordi produces about 12,000 bottles or so per year.

Named for the people from Blancafort itself, so this is pretty much the house red. From vines growing at varying altitudes around the village between 430 and 600 metres above sea level on limestone. This is from a particularly challenging year, when yields dropped from 25 hectolitres per hectare to just 7. The vines were planted between 2001 and 2010.

Grapes: Garnatxa Negra, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Parellada

Region: Blancafort, Conca de Barberà, Catalunya, Spain

ABV: 12.5%