Les Manyes 2016
100/100
"The 2016 Les Manyes is aromatic with tantalizing aromas of wild berries and herbs, flowers, a touch of forest floor and something salty. This has a lighter color and comes from a healthier vineyard that gives slightly higher yields (it was not in good shape); the vineyard is in a high-altitude place where they escape the heat of the Priorat. Of course the soils are completely different—they are limestone instead of slate and have more in common with Montsant than the majority of Priorat. The nose could be a mixture of a great vintage of Château Rayas and a traditional Nebbiolo from Piemonte. It's beautifully textured, with refined, chalky tannins and a medium to full-bodied palate, with no room for sweetness but with the volume of ripe Garnacha, pungent flavors and a very long finish. I just couldn't get myself to spit the wine! This is as far removed from a sweet wine as possible: This is a salty wine, a wine for food, a wine for gastronomy. The nose kept changing in the glass, developing new nuances with time—aromatic, intoxicating and attractive, with a kind of magnetism that made me go back to the glass over and over again. I could smell this for hours... I don't think Priorat gets much better than this! Bravo! 2,868 bottles were filled in July 2018."
Les Tosses 2016
98/100
"The 2016 Les Manyes is a hard act to follow, but I could have said the pure Cariñena 2016 Les Tosses was a Garnacha, such is the elegance and the floral, nuanced nose! This might be the most elegant Cariñena out there. It comes from a very old, steep vineyard in the village of Torroja on very dark slate soils. It matured in an oak foudre, quite old, and there is a nice note of graphite and wet slate, red and black cherries and a spice touch. It has great freshness, good acidity and is fluid and relaxed, powerful yet elegant and harmonious. 2,668 bottles were filled in July 2018."