Weine, ES Catalunya:

93/100 Guía Peñín 2017

92/100 Punkte Robert Parker Oct 2016
The only white produced at Vall Llach, the 2014 Aigua de Llum, is mainly Viognier complemented with other local grapes, some 15% Garnacha Blanca and 5% made up of Picapoll, Macabeo, Moscatel and Escanyavella. This is not a shy white, as it packs 15.5% alcohol, with low-ish acidity and a round and lush mouthfeel. Half of the Viognier fermented in new 300-liter French oak barrels and the rest in stainless steel, like the other varieties, which were later transferred to new 225-liter barriques where the wines aged for some four months. This is often my favorite wine from the winery, as it's the more drinkable one. Only 986 bottles were filled in June 2015.

99/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2019

97+/100 Punkte Robert Parker April 2018
Poboleda is in the northeast of the appellation, in the Siurana Valley at the foot of the Montsant Mountains, which provides a cooler microclimate with more rain, a longer cycle and later ripening than the southern part of Priorat. 2014 was a mild year complicated by rains in September, which required sorting grapes. This resulted in a 2014 1902 Centenary Carignan with half a point less alcohol than the cool 2013. This 2014 feels exactly like something in between the 2013 and 2015 vintages#with the freshness and tension of 2013 and the power and ripeness closer to 2015. It has a good compromise between power and elegance; it's concentrated but with tension and freshness, lots of tannins but not astringent. A very concentrated but harmonious Cariñena, one of the best in Priorat. Only 864 bottles were filled unfined and unfiltered in April 2016 after 16 months in new French oak barrels.

99/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2019

97+/100 Punkte Robert Parker April 2018
Poboleda is in the northeast of the appellation, in the Siurana Valley at the foot of the Montsant Mountains, which provides a cooler microclimate with more rain, a longer cycle and later ripening than the southern part of Priorat. 2014 was a mild year complicated by rains in September, which required sorting grapes. This resulted in a 2014 1902 Centenary Carignan with half a point less alcohol than the cool 2013. This 2014 feels exactly like something in between the 2013 and 2015 vintages#with the freshness and tension of 2013 and the power and ripeness closer to 2015. It has a good compromise between power and elegance; it's concentrated but with tension and freshness, lots of tannins but not astringent. A very concentrated but harmonious Cariñena, one of the best in Priorat. Only 864 bottles were filled unfined and unfiltered in April 2016 after 16 months in new French oak barrels.

96/100 Punkte Robert Parker, April 2018
2015 saw a return to dry and warm years like 2012, and the 2015 1902 Centenary Carignan was saved from the heat wave in July by 60 liters of rain in June. The destemmed grapes fermented with neutral yeasts in stainless steel, and the wine matured in three brand new French oak barrels for 16 months. The technical data lists almost seven grams of residual sugar, which surprised me. It's ripe, full-bodied and powerful, concentrated and juicy. It's a very powerful and heady Cariñena, with a polished texture. It feels tender and young. 864 bottles produced. It was bottled in April 2017. I had the chance to taste a bottle of the never-released 2005, an experimental vintage from a year that could have some similarities with 2015, and the wine felt very balanced and still young, not showing any heat.

95/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2018

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker Oct 2016
The 2005 Reserva Particular de Recaredo was disgorged after 119 months in the bottle with the lees. This cuvée is a blend of 55% Xarello and 45% Macabeo from vineyards exceeding 50 years of age. All vineyards are organically and biodynamically farmed. The Xarello fermented in oak barrels and the base wine was put to referment in bottle with a cork stopper. This wine wants to keep the traditional blend of approximately same amounts of Xarello and Macabeo, which is more accessible and open, more aromatic than a pure Xarello. It might have had a little reduction, mineral perhaps, reminiscent of the diesel tones found in some Riesling. There are subtle smoke notes, yeasts, bread dough and baked brioche, incredibly subtle and elegant. 2005 was a warm and ripe year, but this wine is balanced and fresh, with a powerful palate and very tasty, with lively acidity that makes you salivate.

96/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2019

95/100 Punkte Robert Parker April 2018
Their vineyard-selection cuvée 2007 Reserva Particular currently in the market is from a great vintage in the region, especially for Xarello#even if this is a blend of 64% Macabeo and 36% Xarello, I think this has to be one of the finest vintages, at least in recent times, along with 2001 and 2004. This comes from three separate vineyards and is always a little riper, more developed, and in this vintage, it combines power with freshness, like in the best vintages. The 2007 vintage was dry, and Recaredo's vineyards yielded 33.5 hectoliters per hectare, when the appellation of origin allowed up to 88 hectoliters per hectare that year. The wine has 12% alcohol and an extremely low pH (2.96), which means very healthy acidity. The Xarello fermented in oak barrels and the Macabeo in stainless steel. The wine was put in bottle for the aging with yeasts in April 2008 and was disgorged nine years and nine months later (117 months). The long aging has

92/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2018

91/100 Punkte Robert Parker, 28th Oct 2016
I tasted two vintages of a wine that was traditionally called Brut Nature, but as all of their Cavas are Brut Nature, it was renamed in 2008 to terroirs, starting with the 2010 Terrers. It is the product of a myriad of their own vineyards in the Alt Penedès zone. By 2010, they were already applying biodynamic preparations and left a cover crop to compensate a wet season. It's a blend of 52% Xarello, 44% Macabeo and 4% Parellada with some 9% of the wine matured in barrel for a short period of time. This is the only wine where they use Parellada grapes, which have been reduced more and more, because they believe it needs higher altitude than where they were in their vineyards. This is open, aromatic and developed, with balsamic notes, even hints of camphor, yeasts and smoke. The palate is soft and creamy, quite balanced, with integrated acidity. It was disgorged after 61 months in bottle. They went biodynamic in 2009 and this is the first v

91/100 Punkte Robert Parker April 2018
The blend of the 2012 Terrers is unusually high in Xarello and Parellada, 60% and 7% respectively, with only 33% Macabeo. 2012 was one of the warmest and lower-yielding years in recent times (29 hectoliters per hectare), and they consider it a year apt for long aging. It has great concentration, but at the same time, the wine has higher acidity, which makes it very balanced. It aged sur lie for 56 months before it was disgorged. This is a little more oxidative of the three, with a little more development, more Mediterranean. It's very tasty.

92/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2019

92/100 Punkte Robert Parker April 2018
As 2012 was an extremely short vintage, I also tasted the 2013 Terrers, which is unusually high in Macabeo, as it was 58% Macabeo, 39% Xarello and 3% Parellada. The wine aged in bottle with the lees for no less than 45 months. The three vintages were clearly marked in the wines, and this 2013 is by far the freshest of the trio of 2011, 2012 and 2013. It's still very young and it should develop more complexity and nuances in bottle, disgorged or without being disgorged. 124,000 bottles produced.

97/100 Punkte Falstaff Dezember 2017
Helles Goldgelb, Silberreflexe, feines Mousseux. Zart nach kandierte Mandarinenzesten, grüne Nussaromen, weisser Pfirsich, angenehmer Touch von Wiesenkräutern. Stoffig, gute Komplexität, feine Holzaromen, dezente Fruchtsüße, sehr gut anhaltend, zarter Blütenhonig, Apfelfrucht im Nachhall, tolle Länge, mineralischer Nachhall.

96/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2016

95/100 Punkte Robert Parker Jun 2015
It's difficult to live up to the 2001, and even more in a torrid vintage, but still the 2003 Turó d'en Mota is a superb effort, a real triumph over the conditions of the vintage. Fine bakery aromas, faintly smoky, perfumed with some balsamic aromas of camphor and petrol, but no traces of heat anywhere. The wine was disgorged after more than 10 years in contact with the lees and no matter how elegant this is, it has the clear signature of the place and wouldn't be mistaken for Champagne. It's clearly a very elegant Cava, but showing its rustic side, the character of the place where the pure Xarello grows on the old vines planted on very chalky soils. Really lovely, tasty Cava, superb, not only in the context of the vintage, but also in the context of all sparkling wines in the world! 3,378 bottles produced.

97/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2019

96+/100 Punkte Robert Parker April 2018
They are releasing the 2004 Turó d'en Mota after they sold the 2005, as they felt that the vintage needed more time in bottle. From this vintage onward it carries the new official denomination of Cava de Paraje Calificado. As they have done since the initial 1999, it comes from a single vineyard that gives the wine its name, and this is only the seventh vintage sold of the 19 they have produced, as it's sold after no less than 12 years (yes, YEARS!) in bottle with the lees. They consider 2004 one of the exceptional vintages in Penedès. It's pure Xarello from 0.97 hectares of vines planted in 1940 on limestone-rich soils. It was put in bottle in May 2005, and the bottle I tasted was disgorged in June 2017, 145 months later. It has great complexity, with smoky and yeasty notes, open yet subtle and elegant, with a sensation of freshness and harmony you only see in the finest vintages, which tend to be wetter and cooler years. They hadn't had as

95/00 Punkte Guía Peñín 2015

95/100 Punkte Parker Feb 2014
The 2010 Costers de Vinas Viejas is a blend of 55% Garnacha and the rest Carinena from vineyards planted in 1902 on slate slopes. The wine has the power, concentration and balance of the old vines and is a textbook Priorat with those alluring aromas of wet slate and ripe blackberries. The 16 months aging in new French oak become unnoticeable when you have this intensity of fruit, and the aromas and tannins from the barrels are neatly integrated into the fruit. This is a big, elegant Priorat that should evolve nicely in bottle. 5,500 bottles were produced in 2010. Drink 2015-2025.

95/00 Punkte Guía Peñín 2015

95/100 Punkte Parker Feb 2014
The 2010 Costers de Vinas Viejas is a blend of 55% Garnacha and the rest Carinena from vineyards planted in 1902 on slate slopes. The wine has the power, concentration and balance of the old vines and is a textbook Priorat with those alluring aromas of wet slate and ripe blackberries. The 16 months aging in new French oak become unnoticeable when you have this intensity of fruit, and the aromas and tannins from the barrels are neatly integrated into the fruit. This is a big, elegant Priorat that should evolve nicely in bottle. 5,500 bottles were produced in 2010. Drink 2015-2025.

94/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2016

95/100 Punkte Robert Parker, Jun 2015
The 2010 Doix Costers de Vinyes Velles is a blend of 55% Garnacha and the rest Cariñena from very old vines planted on schist (llicorella) soils in the village of Poboleda, where the family originated and the winery and vineyards are located. The 2012 was fermented in stainless steel with neutral yeasts and matured in new 225-liter French oak barrels for 16 months. Only the best grapes tolerate such oak treatment, and although there are still some oak-related aromas the wine has swallowed down the barrique; such is the power and concentration of the juice here. The palate is XL, intense and powerful but with very good balance, freshness (2012 can be a great vintage for Priorat) and chewy tannins. It is a superb, powerful Priorat.

96/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2018

95+/100 Punkte Robert Parker, Oct 2016
The wine that used to be the top of the range until the old-vine, single-vineyard Cariñena was released is the 2013 Doix Costers de Vinyes Velles. It is a phenomenal blend of 55% Cariñena and 45% Garnacha from very old vines planted on schist (llicorella) slopes in the village of Poboleda. Dark, almost opaque with a bright border, the nose is more about black fruit, peat, graphite and some shoe polish, with a generous dose of oak, a little raw (from youth) but with harmony and huge potential to develop. The bunches are hand-harvested and the grapes selected one by one in a double sorting table and fermented in stainless steel. The wine matured in new French oak barriques for 16 months, in a straightforward process, because what's important here is the quality of the grapes, mostly from centenary vines. There is great harmony in the palate, too, intense and penetrating without being aggressive, elegant and balanced in an XXL way. I see great f

96/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2018

95+/100 Punkte Robert Parker, Oct 2016
The wine that used to be the top of the range until the old-vine, single-vineyard Cariñena was released is the 2013 Doix Costers de Vinyes Velles. It is a phenomenal blend of 55% Cariñena and 45% Garnacha from very old vines planted on schist (llicorella) slopes in the village of Poboleda. Dark, almost opaque with a bright border, the nose is more about black fruit, peat, graphite and some shoe polish, with a generous dose of oak, a little raw (from youth) but with harmony and huge potential to develop. The bunches are hand-harvested and the grapes selected one by one in a double sorting table and fermented in stainless steel. The wine matured in new French oak barriques for 16 months, in a straightforward process, because what's important here is the quality of the grapes, mostly from centenary vines. There is great harmony in the palate, too, intense and penetrating without being aggressive, elegant and balanced in an XXL way. I see great f

93/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2019

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker April 2018
Certainly riper and with a little less acidity, the 2015 Doix Costers de Vinyes Velles is a similar blend of 55% extremely old Cariñena and 45% very old Garnacha matured in new French oak barrels for 16 months. The fruit is black, and the palate reveals abundant, fine-grained tannins and integrated acidity. A powerful vintage for Doix.

93/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2019

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker April 2018
Certainly riper and with a little less acidity, the 2015 Doix Costers de Vinyes Velles is a similar blend of 55% extremely old Cariñena and 45% very old Garnacha matured in new French oak barrels for 16 months. The fruit is black, and the palate reveals abundant, fine-grained tannins and integrated acidity. A powerful vintage for Doix.

93/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2019

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker April 2018
Certainly riper and with a little less acidity, the 2015 Doix Costers de Vinyes Velles is a similar blend of 55% extremely old Cariñena and 45% very old Garnacha matured in new French oak barrels for 16 months. The fruit is black, and the palate reveals abundant, fine-grained tannins and integrated acidity. A powerful vintage for Doix.

92/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2018

92/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2018

93/100 Guía Peñín 2017

92/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2018

92/100 Punkte Wine Spectator, Feb 28, 2018
Focused and lively, this lithe red delivers bright flavors of cherry, berry, mountain herb, vanilla and mineral, mingling harmoniously and supported by light, firm tannins and orange peel acidity. Not muscular, but has depth. Garnatxa, Merlot, Samsó, Syrah and Cabernet. Drink now through 2025.