Clos Figueres 2015

The riper and warmer 2015 Clos Figueres fermented in new 500-liter French oak barrels and matured in French barriques for 14 to 16 months. There is a tad more ripeness compared with the 2014, but there are no signs of excess. It's powerful while keeping its poise and manages to come through as balanced within its full body and plenty of tannins. A powerful red Priorat true to the vintage. I think it's a matter of taste if you like 2014 or 2015 better, because quality is pretty homogeneous. 4,525 bottles were filled in February 2017. - Luis Gutiérrez.

Dark black and red in colour, this Gratallops-grown blend of older vine Garnatxa and Carinyena, with 10% of Syrah and 5% of Cabernet Sauvignon, is fermented in mainly older 500 litre barrels before being aged in new and one year old barriques and 300 litre casks. The scents are sweetly enticing for the time being and, tasting this in the context of a vertical, it will turn creamy after a few years, and truffley with further maturation time. The easy, swinging balance of the damson-like Gratallops fruit is evident, but so too is the concentration and innate drama of the wine, the vines producing just half a kilo of grapes each. Having begun richly, you realise by the finish that the wine is a poised mid-weight.
 

A rich, but polished Priorat red that reminds me a bit of a right-bank Bordeaux from a ripe vintage. On the palate there’s plenty of licorice and some rooty character. Good balance of rich fruit and quite fine tannins. Drink or hold.