Wine Advocate (97)

The single-vineyard red 2019 Finca Dofí comes from the 14 hectares of vines planted across three parajes (lieu-dits) in Gratallops. This year, it's 87% Garnacha, 12% Cariñena and 1% white grapes (Garnacha Blanca and Macabeo. It fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in large oak barrels (bocoyes and foudres) for 14 months. It's classy, elegant and fresh with very clean aromas and flavors, not lacking concentration or power. There is superb definition and purity here; it has to be the finest and most elegant Dofí to date. It has finer tannins and more elegance than La Baixada this year. The 2018 was fragrant and this has more clout but superb balance. These two vintages have been great for Dofí. I still remember the 2005, hard as nails then and what the wine is now—spherical and velvety. Dofí on a roll... It was bottled in May 2021, and 21,146 bottles were produced.

Wine Advocate (96-98)

The more backward of the 2021s was the 2021 Finca Dofí, which was very primary and smelled almost like the fermentation vessels, and it took time in the glass to open up. The blend is higher in Garnacha, and they couldn't use the Picapoll as it didn't work well that cool year, so it's 90% Garnacha, 9% Cariñena and 1% white grapes. It achieved 14.5% alcohol but kept better freshness than in 2020, a constant in the 2021 wines. Very promising. They expect 24,000 bottles. It should be bottled around April 2023.

Wine Advocate (96)

The 2023 Finca Dofí was still not bottled, like a few of the 2023s. It comes from the 12.5-hectare vineyard that names the wine, which extends across three different parajes, or lieu-dits, from Gratallops. The vines were planted 20 years ago on slopes and terraces, and in 2023, it delivered 95% Garnacha and 5% Cariñena that fermented with part of uncrushed grapes in oak vats with indigenous yeasts and had a 36-day maceration. It matured in oval oak foudres and large barrels for 15 months. When I tasted it last year, it surprised me because of it's floral and perfumed profile. It continues the same, a character that has grown in the last few years, floral, aromatic and elegant, very clean and precise. 28,000 bottles produced.

Wine Advocate (94-96)

The blend of the 2021 Gratallops was higher in Cariñena than in the 2020 (25%), which resulted in a wine with a lower pH (3.37), the tendency that makes the 2021s more vibrant. They used some 40% full clusters for the fermentation (rather than adding the stems like in the past). The wine has acid berry freshness; and right now it's a bit difficult with the tannins and the acidity, but one more year of élevage should make it more polished. It should be long-lived and fresh. The expect some 17,300 bottles to be filled around April 2023.

Wine Advocate (93-95)

The 2022 Gratallops is a village wine, "vi de vila" in the Catalan language, which is the official category from the Priorat appellation. The wine shows the ancestral mix of local varieties, which this year is 80% Garnacha, 19% Cariñena and 1% white grapes, Garnacha Blanca, Macabeo and Pedro Ximénez from different vineyards in the village. Like the rest of the wines, it fermented with part of full clusters and indigenous yeasts in oak vats, with punching down and, in this case, a maceration of 31 days. The wine will mature in oval foudres and large oak barrels for 14 months. It's pale, bright, very clean, expressive and elegant, with a great sense of harmony, contained ripeness and a medium-bodied palate with very fine tannins and a surprising sense of harmony, perhaps not super complex or deep but with a silky texture that makes it very attractive. It has 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.52 with 4.61 grams of acidity. They expect to produce around 21,000 bottles in March 2024.

Wine Advocate (99)

The 2010 L’Ermita is approximately 90% Garnacha, 8% Carinena and 2% white grapes, mainly Garnacha Blanca, since that is the mix found in the vineyard, and it has been like this since the 2006 harvest. Every year the grapes are hand-picked and then the 45-odd people that take part in the harvest sit down and go through each and every bunch removing the grapes that are not pristine. So even if the harvest is late, there is no over ripeness in the wine, as all the raisined fruit is removed. The bunches, which are very small and loose, go through a sorting table and the selection is stricter. Nothing less than perfect makes it into the fermentation vats. I saw a beautiful video of the 2013 harvest, which happened later than ever, on November 5, which was breathtaking. Going back to the 2010, the grapes were picked on October 29, and the final yield was a tiny 7.8 hectoliters per hectare, which resulted in 1,254 bottles and a bunch of magnums (and bigger-sized bottles) from the 1.40 hectares of vines. The grapes fermented in oak vats and then aged for 16 months in new French oak barrels. The wine presents itself with an incredible freshness, the nose full of citric notes of blood orange (Alvaro talks about grapefruit), Mediterranean herbs, licorice, violets and aniseed, pure elegance and subtly, with electric, lively acidity (according to the technical data, it has a pH of 3.3, a figure far more common in whites than in reds), pungent flavors, and very good grip. Graceful, elegant, vibrant. The oak is imperceptible, fully integrated into the wine, both in the nose and the palate, as only the very best grapes in the world can do: this is a truly world-class wine, and one of the best (if not the best) L’Ermita ever produced. It’s approachable now, but it should age and improve slowly and for a very long time. Drink 2014-2025+.

Wine Advocate (97-100)

As I saw in some of the other wines, there is a lot more Cariñena in the still unbottled 2016 L'Ermita than in the 2015. The varietal breakdown was approximately 85% Garnacha, 14% Cariñena and 1% white grapes—Garnacha Blanca, Macabeo and PX. The grapes are manually sorted and destemmed by the team that picks them and are put to ferment in an oak vat with the natural yeasts from the grapes. Malolactic was in barrique, which is where the wine was maturing when I tasted it. It has electric acidity that makes it vibrant, even if the nose might be a bit shy. I don't remember a vintage of L'Ermita with this concentration and acidity. We have to see how the élevage rounds it out, but this could be a very important vintage for L'Ermita. The expectation is to bottle some 2,000 bottles of this in May/June 2018.

Wine Advocate (99)

The flagship 2018 L'Ermita is already classified as Gran Vinya Classificada, the new category of grand cru vineyards from the Priorat appellation of origin. Like the 2017, the blend here is mostly Garnacha with about 20% Cariñena (the highest for this wine) and 2% of white grapes. It fermented with indigenous yeasts in oak vats with a maceration of 56 days and matured in oak barrels of different sizes for 14 months. The grapes were picked quite late but on the same date as the previous year, the 17th of October, because the vineyard is so regular. The wine is aromatic, intense and elegant, with a lifted nose and a high-pitched note of violet pastille, more refined than the Aubaguetes and Baixada. It is classical and proportioned, with contained and complex aromas and flavors and lots of energy, light in its feel but with inner power and strength. As with most great wines, it should develop nicely and for a long time in bottle but will drink well throughout its life. Grand vin, yes. 2,440 bottles were filled in April 2020.

Decanter (99)

L’Ermita is the second of Alvaro Palacios’ top wines to gain the Gran Vinya Classificada category. The vineyard now measures 4.7ha; it increased when Palacios and René Barbier swapped land. Work has been done to graft red varieties onto white vines. The result of the labours – including the permissions required from the Archbishop of Zaragoza for this holy hermitage – is a delight. Gloriously aromatic nose, introducing a wonderfully complex palate of cherries integrated with savoury notes, a shaft of minerality, wild herbs, and dark fruit conserve. Well-deserving of its reputation as one of Spain's great wines. Gran Vinya Classificada. 4,930 bottles produced.

Decanter (99)

L’Ermita is the second of Alvaro Palacios’ top wines to gain the Gran Vinya Classificada category. The vineyard now measures 4.7ha; it increased when Palacios and René Barbier swapped land. Work has been done to graft red varieties onto white vines. The result of the labours – including the permissions required from the Archbishop of Zaragoza for this holy hermitage – is a delight. Gloriously aromatic nose, introducing a wonderfully complex palate of cherries integrated with savoury notes, a shaft of minerality, wild herbs, and dark fruit conserve. Well-deserving of its reputation as one of Spain's great wines. Gran Vinya Classificada. 4,930 bottles produced.

Wine Advocate (98+)

The "gran vinya classificada" single-vineyard 2023 L'Ermita was also bottled and singing. From the 4.7 hectares of the vineyard, they selected four for this vintage, with a blend of 84% Garnacha, 13% Cariñena, 2% Picapoll and 1% white grapes, Garnacha Blanca, Macabeo and PX. It fermented with part of full clusters and indigenous yeasts in oak vats with a longer maceration than in 2022, a total of 42 days, followed by an élevage in French oak oval foudres of 13 months and two more months in concrete. Last year, I found it darker, earthier and a little more rustic than the 2022 wine, but it has bloomed since then. It's much more ethereal and floral, with notes of fresh grape pulp, and it has contained energy, interwoven with spices. This is now somewhere in between the more perfumed and ethereal wines like Dofi and La Baixada and the earthier, darker and more powerful like La Baixada. 4,730 bottles were filled in February 2025.

Wine Advocate (97)

I tasted the 2022 Quiñón de Valmira that I had already tasted before bottling last year, but this time I tasted it from bottle and next to the 2023. The year seems to have marked a change in the weather and even the aromatic profiles of the wines, but the Garnacha seems to resist. It delivered what it promised but, unfortunately, suffered in the comparison with the superb 2023. It has a pale ruby color with purple tints of youth. It's 85% Garnacha (not 58%, as I wrote last year), with the remaining 15% from other traditional varieties, fermented with a long maceration and some full clusters and matured in oak foudres for 17 months, after which it rested in concrete for another six months. It's floral, expressive, elegant and open, a little shier than the 2023, with ripeness, juicy red fruit and very fine tannins, just slightly dusty. It finishes dry and with some stony austerity that I loved. It comes in at 14% alcohol, with a pH of 3.5 and 5.3 grams of acidity. 5,680 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2024.

Wine Advocate (96)

The 2014 Pedro Ximenez de Anada is dark amber and sweet, with notes of honeyed figs, maple syrup, toffee and almond liqueur. It is rich and unctuous, very full-bodied and a serious decadent elixir. It should last for 20-30 years, or more.

Wine Advocate (98)

The amazing, pedal to the metal/full throttle/balls to the wall, sweet 1910 Pedro Ximenez Solera is a dark amber-colored, full-bodied, unctuously-textured beauty that should be sipped and savored slowly and carefully at the end of a meal with a plate of cashews. It is remarkable stuff. The price is not high for what it represents.

Wine Advocate (98)

The NV Pedro Ximenez Solera 1927 is non-vintage, but does have some 1927 material in it. This is totally dark brown/amber with notes of figs, toffee, caramel syrup, molasses and coffee. It is dense, super sweet, intense, rich and an amazingly, unctuously textured, thick beverage to consume slowly and introspectively after a meal. Drink now through 2050, or even longer.

Discover the exquisite and captivating Arrels del Priorat Vi de Mare 45YO NV. This robust and prestigious wine is craftsmanship at its finest, hailing from the renowned Priorat region nestled in northeast Spain. Produced by Arrels del Priorat, a celebrated winery acclaimed for its dedication to tradition and quality, the Vi de Mare carries an exceptional 45-year heritage that reflects in its rich and nuanced palate.

This singular wine showcases a complex depth of flavours, enriched by a maturation process in French and American oak barrels. It boasts remarkable notes of dark fruit, balanced with a delightful undercurrent of spice, echoing the rugged terrains and unique climate of its origin. The Arrels del Priorat Vi de Mare 45YO NV brings a unique finesse to your collection, best enjoyed on special occasions. Honouring its heritage, yet standing the test of time, this is indeed a wine for the discerning connoisseur.