Vanessa

9.2

🍷This wine comes from the steep, south-facing slopes of a historic vineyard called Las Lamas—a Viña Clasificada within Corullón, Bierzo.

🇪🇸 The “Viña Clasificada” designation in Spain is akin to a “Cru” designation in Burgundy and is fitting for this particular wine, which hails from a celebrated single-vineyard site that showcases the beauty and distinctive qualities of this particular place.

🕰️ This classification departs from Spain’s historical focus on appellation (e.g., Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Bierzo) and aging categories (e.g., Crianza, Reserva, Gran Reserva).

🌿 Las Lamas sits at a high altitude, above slate and clay soils, and is made with fruit of old-vine Mencía by the legendary Descendientes de J. Palacios (DJP).

👌In the glass, this wine had a wonderful structure to age. We opened this bottle in its infancy (something we do from time-to-time out of excitement). 😆

☝️ Not to mention, we truly enjoy visiting and revisiting great wines at all stages of their life, even in their youth.

🍒 Right now, this wine is deliciously pure in its fruit expression with an old soul that emerges as it opens. After decanting, we were greeted with gloriously dark cherry, pomegranate, and berry notes next to tar, rose, spice cake, vanilla, black licorice, cacao, and savory elements.

😋 The palate had sweeter characteristics, though the wine was fully dry. Its acidity was fresh, giving a firm backbone, and its tannins were refined, leaving a lingering presence on the finish.

👏 With time, we imagine it would evolve marvelously to develop layers and enhanced aromatic complexity. — 10 days ago

with Deked1

Bob McDonald

9.2

See my previous note in February 2026. Very similar to now. This is fulsome and savoury at once - black cherry and raspberry. Very easy to like. Like a hypothetical blend of Syrah and Merlot. The herbal savouriness of Syrah with the softness of a supple Merlot. Made by Alvaro Palacios. Love the flamboyant Spanish label. — 3 months ago

Alvaro Bustillos

9.2

Kike a jorge b jorge c — 9 months ago

James Everhart

9.1

Excellent fruit and balance $23 — 3 years ago

Kevin Mullally

9.0

Delicious. Oak on the nose but not as much on the palate. Red fruits. Spice on the finish. Would definitely buy again. — 5 years ago

Michael Phillips

9.0

Still drinking nicely. Dark fruit and saddle leather and some tannin. — 6 years ago

Dave

9.3

Oh, I like this. Light raspberry and crushed rock.
Listening to Son Volt and still coming down from seeing them last night. — a month ago

Martijn

9.3

Time does this wine well. — 2 months ago

with Eric

Scott Kahn

9.2

A perfect complement to osso bucco and fish soup! Rich red fruit with good structure - M tannins and M+ acidity. Very enjoyable. — 5 months ago

Pooneet K

9.2

Very nice white. Always enjoy it and decided to buy a few to have on hand. Crisp and delicious with real salinity and depth. Bit of confectionary quality. — 6 months ago

Vanessa

9.3

This is a stunning Garnatxa blend from Priorat (Catalonia), Spain!!

It’s comprised of mostly Garnatxa (Grenache), along with Syrah, and, to a lesser extent, Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from three parcels in the sun-soaked village of Gratallops, where Daphne Glorian purchased her first vineyard – Clos Escales – back in 1989 when she founded Clos i Terraces. 🍇

In making this move, she joined equally passionate and pioneering winemakers Álvaro Palacios (L’Ermita) and René Barbier (Clos Mogador) in a rebirth of production practices in the region; as a group (with other similar-minded producers) they altered the trajectory of Priorat’s profile as a source of tip top quality wines rivaling the best on the world stage. 👏🏻

Priorat is one of only two regions carrying the “DOCa” / “DOQ” quality designation (the other is Rioja), subject to various stipulations including regular auditing by a tasting panel. ✅

This particular wine is “Laurel” which is Clos i Terraces’s second wine, next to Clos Erasmus, one of Priorat’s finest and most sought-after wines. Yet it tastes like a flagship wine in and of itself.🫶🏻🫶🏻

It is absolutely beautiful, with a medium ruby hue, medium (+) intensity of ripe and fresh strawberry, red cherry, red plum, violet, black licorice, fennel, clove, baking spice aromas and flavors. It’s dry, with medium(+) acidity, a medium(+) body, high alcohol (14% ABV), and medium tannins that are fine-grained. 😆

This wine vinified and aged in a combination of vessels, including, large oak vats, concrete tanks, second and third fill French oak barrels, and clay amphorae, lending to its texture and complexity.👌🏻👌🏻
— 2 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

At the Toowoomba Wine Show Judges Dinner last Saturday night. No notes but this was a good Carignan from Priorat where the prices for some of the iconic Garnachas from the likes of Palacios are thru the roof. This is more affordable. — 6 years ago

Brandi Bratek

9.6

Crisp, dry, oyster shell. — 3 days ago

John Van Trijp

10

100/100 Parker tasting — 19 days ago

KA

9.3

The Occidental DC — 3 months ago

Alvaro Bustillos

9.6

Jorge b asamblea ugrch — 6 months ago

Stu

9.2

Charrúa in madrid — a year ago

Charles Mires

9.6

Exceptional — 4 years ago

Howard Yang

9.8

Best Mencia I have ever had, still with at least a couple of decades ahead, opaque garnet burgundy color with no sign of bricking, from a small century old vineyard, very distinctive nose of menthol, leather, clove, nutmeg, Asian five spices, pot roasted pork, black licorice, cassis and black plum, full body with fresh acidity and velvety tannin after three hours decant, tastes of black cherry, black berry, clove, licorice, espresso, black plum, mocha, and sandalwood, 588 bottles produced with 6 additional magnum. — 6 years ago

John Chawluk

9.1

This is supposedly 97% Garnacha, not Tempranillo. Wonderfully smooth and flavorful. Best Christmas wine so far. Started with $10 Don David, and now up to this for $20. Tonight a big jump to $60 CDP! — 6 years ago

with Scotti