Earthy raspberry fruit on the nose with what I’m calling a Dr. Pepper/cola note, so that would be spearmint, wild sage, hot cinnamon and loads of pepper. Long with sandy tannins on the finish, the acid drives things along. A very spicy palate with plenty of pepper, light wood notes, more mint with raspberry and cola. This all leads to a kind of medicinal character, that I think matches the fruit, but a couple of people that I drank this with found it a bit too much. I like it, a solid wine from a hot vintage. 90 Pts.

Source: Bibendum Wine Co. Price: $57  Closure: Conventional Cork

A bit of coco, cherry and sappy plums with a bit of pez and sawdust. A bit more air show raspberry, slight violets, white pepper and sooty earth. Yeah its complex and enjoyable on the nose. Unfortunately, its a bit flat and clinical on the palate. The tannins are a bit hard on the finish, but overall it has good balance. A bit medicinal tasting with some clove and pepper, plum and rosella, cola. There’s plenty there to like and its quite a good wine for the vintage, but it just doesn’t come together for the big points. 89 Pts.

Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $90 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.masdengil.com

I’ve been a big fan of Priorat in the past, but the price rises over the past couple of vintages have pushed these wines into a whole new price bracket. Plus they can be challenging, confronting wines that are more for the head than the heart. That doesn’t sound like fun, does it? Well, maybe in a fetish kind of way. Actually, the cheaper wines can be much more enjoyable than ultra expensive ones. At times I think you get much better value over the other side of the Iberian Peninsula in the Douro Valley.

Of course, as soon as I take such a bold position this wine turns up on the tasting bench. It’s $150 a bottle, which is by no means cheap, but it’s a spanking, complex wine that is worth the money if you like you’re into wine from Priorat. This is clearly up there with the top wines of the very good 2001 vintage and is drinking really well right now.

A classic Priorat nose of soot, hot rocks, raspberry, cherry pie, plum and bramble. Its a pleasure in the mouth, its well integrated and shows superior balance. Subtle tannins towards the finish and none of the heat that you can find in some Priorats, but it does weigh in at 15%. The palate shows plenty of minerals with some clove, raspberry and plum, cola, hot cinnamon and musk sticks. There’s enough here to restore my faith, its a little wild but that’s the point. 94 Pts.

Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $150 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.masdengil.com

I've had a couple of requests to open a bottle of this wine, so I ducked into Boccaccio Cellars on Sunday and picked up a bottle. I went home decanted for an hour or so while I cooked up a couple of good steaks. It looked a bit odd to start with and really not pleasant to drink, so I had a glass and put the rest away for the next night. So you get two notes for the price of one here, one on the first night and on on the second. There may be a third note after tonight. This is a very intriguing wine, but not much fun at this stage of its life and something for the wine obsessed rather than hedonistic drinking. I'd love to try another bottle each year for the next 10 years to see where it goes, but given the price rise (about double the price of the 2001, an extra $50 on the 04) I'll only be buying a few.

Night 1: A very odd nose with vanilla pancake mix, barnyard, soot, aniseed powder, raspberry with some sawdust. With more air some notes of roast meats, sage and cheese. Lets just say it's extremely complex and confused at this stage. Not particularly nice in the mouth, angular with big, blocky tannins and confronting acidity. On the palate it shows sarsaparilla, dark fruits with mocha, plenty of cinnamon and clove. Very complex, for many this would be overly complex. A wine for the S&M fetishist, there is some great pleasure to be had here, but you have to be willing to put up with the pain too. Perhaps cellaring will sort it out, however there are some extreme balance issues. 91+ Pts.

Night 2: Looking better, but still a odd on the nose: varnish and coconut with barnyard, but the fruit has arrived with beautiful raspberry and cherry with some woody mocha and pipe tobacco notes. The usual soot and minerals is in there as well. The mouth feel has come up and shows excellent balance with soft fruit tannins and a shot of acid down the centre. Very powerful on the palate with rocks and minerals with cherry, plum and raspberry, and mocha. Not as spicy as last night, which is good. A very intense, complex and intellectual wine, with plenty of time in the cellar needed to show its best. Leave for 5 years before attemping. 94+ Pts.

Source: Boccaccio Cellars RRP: $190 Closure: Conventional Cork

Other Vintages: 1996, 2003, 2004

You may have seen a story about this wine in Epicure if you're in Melbourne, perhaps on theage.com if not. If not here's a quick summary: Don Lewis of Mitchelton fame and his partner, Narelle King, scored a gig making wine for Merum Priorati and in 2004 could get their hands on some fruit to make this wine. And its a beauty, and one of the most cost effective ways to introduce yourself to Priorat from the very good 2004 vintage. I've gone with with my raw tasting note here, it just seems to work for this wine.

Nose: Soot, blackberry,raspberry, roasted meats. Light nose, but well flavoured palate. Juicy fruit on the palate: blackberry, raspberry, rosella, mint, liquorice jelly beans, cocoa, fine dusty tannins good length and acid.  Pepper. Smooth mellow and refined, chilled out rather than tough and manic. Medium bodied.  Needs at least a couple of hours in a decanter to show its best. A great value intro Priorat. 91 Pts

Source: Rathdowne Cellars Price: $44 Closure: Conventional Cork

 The second of my Priorat auction purchases went much better. One of the problems with buying wine at auction is you never really know whats happened to it before it got to the auction house.  I've had good luck so far and have usually picked up very well stored bottles.  While there is still a very small amount of Spanish wine sold at auction, it is growing and the prices seem to be quite good.

The nose is almost non-existent on pouring, a lot of vigorous swirling bought it up a bit, however I think it needed more time in the decanter. A touch of rose, raspberry leaf, ripe red and black fruits with some hot rocks. In the mouth its a glorious drink, plenty of soft, refined tannins, well structured and balanced with an acid backbone. notes of dark cherry, raspberry and plum with black pepper, sage and loads of minerals. A long finish with more of those lovely minerals. Right in its drinking window now, but will last another 5 years in the cellar with no problems.  

Source: Auction Price Range: $55-$70 Closure: Conventional Cork

I picked up this wine and a bottle of 2000 Finca Dofi from auction to see how they were looking and to test the theory that these wines from Priorat can age well and develop additional complexity. While there is quite a bit of old vine material in the region, modern methods have only been used in the last 20 years, so its a fairly young region that's in a constant state of innovation. Plus its not an easy working environment: the hills are all shisty rocks on steep slopes and it can be bloody hot here so keeping everything from the picked grapes to the bottles in the cellar cool is very important. I have noticed that from around 2000 onward there has been a big jump in quality from many producers, so I was interested to see what this bottle looked like.

Opened up quite mousey and earthy, a touch of old raspberry leaf with subtle red and black fruits. None of the classic soot character. Disappointing, there were a few questions about TCA on the nose, but I don't think so. A touch of brett perhaps. The palate is much better showing some trademark minerals and rocks, raspberry, dark cherry and plums. A touch of old leather and barnyard but really quite simple.  Quiet pleasant to drink but nothing special. I went back to it a couple of hours later and it was looking much better, it had lost that mousy character and was not showing some mountain herbs, richer fruit and more complexity.  So if you've got some in the cellar, a couple of hours decant at minimum. 

Source: Auction Price Range: $55-75 Closure: Conventional Cork

There has been a bit of discussion on some of the wine forum about the cellaring potential of the wines from Priorat lately.  The main question is do they gain complexity? or does the fruit just fade and they are better drunk young?.  They seem to have everything in place for a long life, but the area is fairly young and really the answer is that no one knows yet.  I haven't had the chance to taste that many older vintages, but I've got a couple lined up for some of Melbourne's leading booze artists in a couple of weeks. Well, see how they go.

Sooty, earthy and rocky are the first things I notice on the nose, this moves on to blackberry and spice with some raspberry and chocolate.  This isn't your supercharged, balls-to-the-wall blockbuster, its very subtle and suave.  Tightly wound at the moment with a spine of acid and sandy tannins that keep it humming along. More dark and red fruit on the palate with a touch of pepper and herbs, clove and liquorice. It looks like 2005 will be good in Priorat, as expected.  Better than 2004?  Who knows, but two good vintages are better than one.  92+ Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Cost: Around $60 Closure: Conventional Cork

Other vintages: 2004 

I wasn't going to write this wine up initially, as its quite a rare wine this. The importer sold out in a matter of days (and at a insignificant price hike from 2003) and it seems that only a case or two made it out to other retailers.  This wine has a huge following in Australia, but the huge wrap the Wine Advocate gave it seems to have added to the buying madness. The wine comes in a very cool wooden box that has a very simple system to hold the bottles in place, rather than the normal plywood things that hold the bottle in place.

The nose starts of quite rustic and smokey/sooty and then opens up with mocha, violets and sage. It builds with more air to add blackberry, dark cherry and plums with aniseed.  But its in the mouth where this wine really shines at the moment.  Its the balance and complex fruit characters that put a smile on your face.  Medium bodied, but powerfully concentrated flavours that are well structured.  Oh and the tannins too.  Dark currents and plums with loads of minerals and old gold chocolate on the palate.  This is so young at the moment, it drinks like it could go 20 years no problems.  But drink your 02 and 03 over the next 5 years while you wait for this to come around.  97 Pts.

Source: Boccaccio Cellars RRP: ??? Closure: Conventional Cork

Embruix is made from the fruit of younger vines and sees mainly older french oak for 16 months.  It is a blend of 35% Garnacha, 30% Carinena, 20% Syrah, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Merlot.  There are some fancy winemaking going on here too, 50% malo in tank, the rest in wood etc.

Its a brooding black/purple in the glass, the nose very primary and sooty.  It opened up a lot more with time in the decanter and shows aromas of crushed rock, soot, liquorice and subtle blue and black fruits, blackberry and blueberry mainly.  Extra smooth, but concentrated with luxury tannins.  More blackberry on the palate with pepper, black currents, and a bit of tar.  Well balanced and long.  This wine seems very young at this stage, I'd but it away for a few years then drink over the following 10.  I can't wait to have a look at the other wines in the range.  91+ Pts.

Source: Boccaccio Cellars RRP: $60 Closure: Conventional Cork

Priorat can be a hard sell at times, mainly due to the cost. There are a number of factors that influence the cost of such a wine. Just about everything here must be done by hand due to the hills and terraces of schist that make up the growing areas (if you are familiar with port, think Douro valley), that's picking, pruning, planting, everything.  The best old vine sites are very rare, with a lot of the plantings happening in the past 20 years.  Then there is the balance between high demand from local and international buyer and low production.  Huge import taxes here in Australia don't help, and the list goes on.  However, when I look at these prices I see the pricing is very similar to that of many of the big names across the boarder in the Rhone valley, especially in Chateauneuf du Pape where grenache blends rule the roost.  According to one American wine writer, the Rhone is the true bargain area for wine in the world. That must make wine such as this a relative bargin…

This is the mid level wine in the line up from Alvaro Palacios in Priorat, the grapes come from a single vineyard that consitst of 60% Garnarcha and the rest made up of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Cariñena.  Fermented in wooden foudres then 18 months in new French oak.  I pulled out the very long cork and decanted for a couple of hours, then had a half a glass.  The rest went to an offline, where it was fairly well received.

Quite deep in colour, but there is a nice ruby edge to it.  A good swirl in the glass was need to get the most out of the nose: chary smoke, blueberries and raspberry with an irony mineral smell.  Floral notes of violets and roses show up with more time in the glass.  In the mouth its smooth and tanninic at the same time, you can clearly see that its built to age.  Great fruit that shows its stuff, but is well restrained: plum, raspberry and a bit of cherry with loads of minerals.  Very good length and structure.  I'd let this sleep for a couple of years, then drink it over the next 10.  93 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Cost: Around $140 Closure: Conventional Cork

This is a regional blend from Alvaro Palacios in Priorat, all of the grapes are bought in and its rumoured that he pays 3 times the going rate to get the best possible selection of fruit for this wine.  The blend is 40% Garnacha, 40% Carinena and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and the wine sees 12 months in oak.

Initially quite reserved on the nose, it opens up with blackberry and  dark cherry fruit and adds cinnamon initially.  With some more air, a pleasant sooty aspect appears.  Well balanced and refined in the mouth with a good hit of acid. The soft fruit tannins build into a great texture as the wine opens up.  Lots of complexity with more dark fruits with licorice, crunchy minerals, pepper and spice.  Great length and with more mineral and sour fruit on the finish.  Looks like 04 Priorat is going to be a killer vintage.  91 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Cost: Around $60 Closure: Conventional Cork

The 2003 vintage was a tough one for Priorat, extreme heat, rain just before harvest that introduced the right conditions for a nasty case of botrytis.  Still, many good wines were made. As always choose from quality producers.  Its not cheep stuff this, but I'll see if I can get some more 03 Priorat in to have a better look.

Like a lot of wines from Priorat, it is a mix of a load of different varieties: Mostly garnarcha with cabernet sauvignon, syrah and cariñena.  It comes over very young at the moment, I decanted for 4 hours and it came up really well.

Blood red in colour, with a slight bit of purple on the edges.   The nose start off very closed and sooty, but with time it came around beautifully: cherry, raspberry and blackberry fruit with great mineral, aniseed, sage and spice notes.  Very complex nose, a bit of VA, but not overwhelming and adds to the nose.  Smooth, savory and medium bodied in the mouth, ripe, smooth tannins and wonderful texture.  On the palate it mimics the nose with some extra dark current and plum fruit, with a slight dark chocolate note.  Great intensity. The finish is long with a good lick of minerals and more smooth tannins.  You could call it rustic given the flavours, but its not at all.  Its not modern either, its just Priorat I think. A perfect match with slow roasted lamb with a rocket and parmesan salad.  Hold off for a 3 more years and drink over the following 10. 94 Pts.

Source: Boccaccio Cellars RRP: $120 Closure: Conventional Cork

These guys are apparently one of the stalwarts of Carinena (Mazyelo in Rioja or Carignan in France) for quality wines in Priorat. This wine is a great little blend of 90% Crinaena and 10% Grenacha. I could drink Priorat wines all day, pity about the pricing…

A deep red core, browning at the edges. Great nose of minerals, dark cherry, some floral notes, a bit of smoke and earth as well. Very clean in the mouth, tart raspberries, dark plums and a load of spice and pepper. Its quite integrated and if you're into tannins, you'll love the noticeable but smooth tannins and the long finish. Really enjoyable, I want a second bottle. It could probably improve over a couple of years, but why wait? 91 Pts.

Source: Retail RRP: $65 Closure: Cork