Jesús Barquín: Intense nose, again with VA and an astringent palate. The major problem here is a cidery fermentation note—perhaps a bottle variation problem, but what am I to do other than penalize it? 11

Alex Hunt: A distinct rocky-mineral brightness on the nose, and it’s welcome in what seems like a very ripe, warm wine. The palate, unfortunately, is just pushed too far in several aspects: extraction, ripeness, creamy-coconut oak. This would have been better with a softer touch throughout. 13.5

Andrew Jefford: Saturated deep black-red. Slightly strange aromas that, at first, reminded me of sherbet and, later, of elderly mushrooms kept in a plastic bag in the fridge for a little too long. But don’t let me put you off: These are nuances to explain a lack of enthusiasm, rather than the rationale for a revulsion that I truly don’t feel. The palate, too, seems slightly coarsely constructed, with strange perfumes, yet I’m reluctant to give this well-structured, poised, and concentrated wine a low mark. Why? Because tasting Priorat over the years has taught me that it can often disconcert in its allusive profile at first, yet when you spend time with the wine, you soon come to see that it is some trick of the soil or the light or the wind rather than a failing in the winery— and by the end of the bottle, you have come to love whatever it was that first disconcerted you. This wine has much to recommend it, and I would like to spend more drinking time with it: Texturally, it is amply satisfying. 15