Sicus Sumoi Sumoll 2017

Sicus Sumoi Sumoll 2017 Natural wine, 100% Sumoll, super duper elegant wine, stunning texture, a baby Jelipins! Hailing from Catalonia, this little known red grape has for many years been a little lost amidst the wave of Cava producion in the region. However, little Sumoll is on the up, partially as the market for fresh, natural red wines increases, so its inherent high acid and pale colour becomes a help, not a hindrance. Sumoll's charm is in its delightful aromas and subtle textures, not dissimilar to young Nebbiolo, with floral elements, red fruits, herbs ad so forth, moving towards dried fruits with age. This wine is one of our finds of the year, an incredibly fine and crystalline wine, with much of the Jelipins about it but with less concentration and at a fraction of the price. The annual production is tiny and so this wine will go fast.

Sicus is located in Bonastre, in Tarragona and led by a remarkably single-minded young wine craftsman called Eduard Pie Palomar. His vineyards is all about indigenous varieties, organically grown and exclusively amphorae fermented in vessels of local clay, some of which are actually buried in the vineyards. Only 6 km from the coast, the Mediterranean influence has a huge impact on the style of the wines. The terroir is shallow clay with little organic matter and no fertilisers which restricts yields further and yields fruit with immense concentration. The favours are alive and vivid, the wines are truly beguiling. Sicus is the ultimate expression of the surrounding landscape, the salinity of the sea, minerality of the soil and the fruits and flowers of the forest. The wines are sublimely elegant, cool, soft and pure. The signature variety of the region the Sumoll finds a truly wonderful expression in this place and is one of our red wine finds of the year. Eduard himself, well he is a wild man I am told, dedicated to quality, originality and with a touch of the reckless in what he does, the wines are super cool.