The 2001 Montsalvat is a gargantuan effort composed of 70% Carinena from 70- to 80-year-old vines and 30% Garnacha of the same age with yields of less than a ton per acre. The wine was aged 16 months in new French oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered. The color is a nearly black/purple with a huge nose of marzipan mineral vanilla and wild blue and blackberries. Full-bodied the wine has an untamed rustic feel on the palate with layered opulent blue and black fruits as well as a balsamic note and a splendid integration of oak acid and tannins. Give this wine a few years in bottle for further evolution and then drink it over the next 10-15 years. Like most of the stars in Priorat Francesc Sanchez Bas an agricultural engineer only started his estate as recently as 1996. All the grapes come from vineyards owned by Bas and are made by Roser Amoros.