Amazingly vivid cherries, wild herbs and licorice. Stunning texture on the palate, thanks to the great tannins that make it leap and bound over the palate. The finish is devastatingly fresh and mineral. Just beginning to reveal its depths. Drink or hold.

I loved the 2015 L’Arbossar, which is 100% old vine Carinyena from a cooler north facing terroir that spent two years in a single foudre. Fermented with 100% stems, its deep ruby, mostly opaque color is followed by a sensational perfume of blackberries, black raspberries, liquid violets, gunpowder, and an undeniable minerality. One of those rich, powerful, yet elegant reds that just glides across the palate, it has ultra-fine tannin, notable purity and freshness, and a great finish. Drink this gorgeous Priorat over the coming 8-10 years.

The old-vine Cariñena 2015 Arbossar has a distinct note of licorice that grows in the glass. By working the vineyard with compost, they have managed to increase yields around 15%, and they feel the grapes achieve better balance, which is very difficult to see in the very poor llicorella slate soils that have almost no organic matter. It's a north-facing slope planted some 90 years ago, and the grapes are very concentrated, so it's a challenge to achieve a floral and fresh Cariñena like this, with notes of blue fruit and violets, quite different from the majority of Cariñena from Priorat. It matured in Stockinger oak foudres for 16 months, and like the majority of wines here, it shows perfectly integrated oak, with just faint spices nicely intermixed with the fruit. There is no heat at all; it's a cool vineyard, and that freshness is translated into the wine and is especially noticeable in a warm and ripe year like 2015. Superb showing for the Arbossar—it has to be one of the best vintages ever. 3,900 bottles were filled in April 2017. -Luis Gutierrez

Brilliant violet color. An intensely perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red/blue fruits, Moroccan spices, candied licorice, espresso and smoky minerals, with a sexy floral nuance emerging as the wine stretches out. Appealingly sweet, seamless and penetrating on the palate, offering concentrated yet lively raspberry liqueur, boysenberry lavender pastille and spicecake flavors that are sharpened by a hint of white pepper on the back half. Harmonious tannins build slowly on a strikingly long, mineral- and floral driven finish that shows outstanding definition and vibrant lift. -- Josh Raynolds

Tradition in Priorat suggests that cariñena ripens best on the warm and sunny south-facing slopes. When Dominik Huber was exploring the region, he came across a small vineyard with very old vines near the town of Torroja. The vineyard faced north and though it required intense work to encourage it toward ripeness, he found that it provided a fresh wine with more distinctive character than carignan often gives in the region. Consider the aroma, with its notes of raw meat, spices, ripe red fruit and curry. You could continue listing scents—it is so nuanced and complex. The wine’s vibrant freshness matches its voluptuous richness, the structure marked by vertical tannins, like steel rebar rising out of the wine’s foundations. This needs at least five years in bottle to approach maturity.

This expressive red delivers a mix of fruity and savory flavors in a polished, round texture. Shows crisp black cherry and red plum fruit, floral, licorice and mineral accents, and an earthy, gamy bottom note. Light tannins and racy acidity tie the disparate parts together. Feels a bit unstable, yet complex, energetic and graceful. The best of three bottles tasted. Carinyena. Drink now through 2025. 36 cases imported.–TM