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From Wine & Spirits Magazine

Ameztoi

Joan D'Anguera

90 Points
Joan D'Anguera El Bugader 1999
Tarragona
$45
Grown from some of the oldest Syrah vines in Spain, this is as saturated with flavor as its vivid purple color would suggest: blackberries ripe off the vine, sweet and juicy, playing off against a black pepper spice. It's generous and grand, not to mention substantially oaky for the moment (the wine spends 18 months in new French oak); but that ebullient fruit can more than handle the wood, as could a slow-roasted leg of lamb- 4,000 bottles (Oct. 2002)

88 Points
Joan D'Anguera Vi Dolc 1998
Tarragona
$45
An unusual dessert wine, similar in its deeply Spanish way to a French Banyuls. Grown from 100 percent Grenache, its fermentation is stopped with natural grape spirits at a four percent residual sugar, then, as is characteristic for this region, the wine is aged 16 months in old open casks. That may account for the slightly cloudy appearance; and it definitely accounts for the sweet red cherry liqueur flavors, laced with suggestions of licorice and rancio. (Oct. 2002

Rotllan Torra

92 Points
Rotllan Torra Tirant 2002
Priorat
$75
When Jordi Rotllan started this winery in 1984, he began aquiring old garnacha and cariñena vines on Priorat hillsides. In a challanging year like '02, those old vines seem to have taken advantage of their experience to create this massive yet austere red. Its tobacco and dry cherry aromas meld with dark spices and blackberry flavors, the texture soft for a Priorat, but firm with acidity. Decant for ribs or cellar for five to seven years. (June 2006)

92 Points
Rotllan Torra Priorat Amadis 1998
Priorat
$45
An exotic Priorat, from a vineyard of 90 to 100-year-old garnacha (45 percent) and carignan (20), along with cabernet sauvignon, syrah and merlot, this if ull of scnets of animalmusk, leather and wet earth. The fruit is redder than one would suspect from the aromas, with intense sour cherry flavors leading nto an old world inkiness and smoke; and while there are some pruney notes in the middle, they give the wine a solid bottom note rather than the sensation of overripeness. Serve this with botifarrra negra amb bolets, the classic Catalan dish of blood sausage and beans. -R.I. (Oct 2002)

87 Points
Rotllan Torra Priorat Balandra 1998
Priorat
$32
Funky and almost stinky on the nose, with a chocolate-cherry character; then the fruit is dark, saturated blackberry, with mineral strength underlying it, the product of 90 to 100 year old garnacha vines (50 percent), equally old carignan vines (25) and rather younger cabernet sauvignon (25). With air the wine's initial funkiness blows off, and the blackberries turn crushed and juicy, ending with a peppery briskness. Decant it for a few hours, then serve it with grilled lamb chops. -R.I. (Oct 2002)

Viña Sastre

100 Wineries of the Year (2003)
Viña Sastre
Viña Sastre suffered a terrible blow this past December, when cofounder Pedro Sastre died in a car accident, but Jesus and wife Isabel have bravely chosen to carry on. The bodega came into being when Pedro, Jesus and their father Rafael decided to stop selling off the fruit from their 47 acres of old-vines Ribera vineyard in 1992 and bottle it themselves. Since then, the Sastres have kept the bodega's growth slow and deliberate, while the wines have received abundant acclaim.

The results, particularly from their old vines, are some of the finest in the region. The '99 Pago de Santa Cruz, from a superb vintage and 64-year-old vines, has scents of cinnamon and chocolate, resolving into layers of deep black fruit, luxurious but bolstered by gripping tannins. The impressive ... '99 Pesus comes from 82-year-old vines: It's black as coal, massive, full of crushed berry flavor, and, for the moment, sealed up under a layer of oak. The third of the triumvirate, the '98 Regina Vides, has sweeter, more black cherry fruit; a bit more unsettled, it needs a year or two to achieve balance.

93 Points
Viña Sastre
1999 Pago de Santa Cruz
Ribera del Duero
$70
100 Best Wines
Sastre's tiny Santa Cruz vineyard, with its 64-year-old tempranillo vines, grew a great Ribera 1999. From the cappuccino aromas, dusted with cinnamon and chocolate to the generous layers of ripe black fruit, this is a heady combination of size and grace. Like a great boxer, the movement is so fluid you don't realize the punch is coming. And there is a punch: coating tannins, decadent blackberry and black cherry flavors, lush texture, and a rolling wave of a finish. An ambitious, impressive wine, not least because despite all that power it's perfectly drinkable now. RI (Winter 2003)

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