Simon Field | Dense onyx color and persuasive aromatic of aniseed, blackcurrant skin, and bitumen; the palate is equally uncompromising, tar and roses and a hint of syrup, which almost recalls Pedro Ximénez. A powerful, alcoholic beast indeed, the putative sweetness all natural, rigorously uncompromising and awaiting a powerful spicy dish—well-hung game perhaps. Do your worst! | 92

Andrew Jefford | Very deep black-red; opaque. Sweet, earthy, warm aromas with a cascade of mingled fruits: autumn orchard fruits like apple and pomegranate, as well as rich, deep plums and sloes; some moist warmed tobacco, too. Exuberant, voluptuous, and uninhibited, an aromatic profile of huge resource and depth, if not particularly refined or sculpted. Some coffee (oak). On the palate, too, this is another impressively, almost overwhelmingly broad-decked wine on which you will find multiple layers of flavor and aroma alike. Carnival wine in which more unusual aromatic layers like tea leaf and fresh hops meet the flamboyantly multi-allusive layers of fruit the aromas sketched out; dense tannins; and a roasted yet still fresh, balanced, and elegant finish. Wow—quite a performance. I’m almost tempted to call it the Grange of Priorat; spectacular excitement in a glass. And note that Garnacha can carry all of this allusive action, though perhaps not on its own. | 92

David Williams | Massively ripe fruit, with a kind of blueberry sweetness, but that’s contrasted with a mass of dense structural elements: bear-hug tannins and imposing alcohol, some sense of slate Priorat terroir. But all is not quite in harmony. | 88