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.

The fitting capstone to what was a terrific vintage for Clarendon Hills, the 2015 Astralis Syrah is destined to become a McLaren Vale legend. Remarkably precise, complex and pristine aromas of anise, pepper, mint and blueberries lead the way. Theyre followed by a full-bodied yet impeccably ripe palate thats dense and concentrated yet supple, leading into a velvety, nearly endless finish. Wow.

Very deep garnet-purple in color the 2008 Grange reveals a truly decadent nose with tons of spices, fruit cake and black & blue fruit compote notes along with nuances of chocolate and potpourri. The full and rich, multi-layered palate has a little oak still showing, it is going through a little bit of a structural stand-out stage, but it doesnt detract on the long and complex finish. It still needs a good few years to develop, though this very opulent, expressive Grange shows the very best of this vintage and the vineyards it hails from.

Served from an ex-chateau bottle. The 2009 Chateau d’Yquem is one showstopper of a wine and perhaps it is only in a vertical that you realize this is up there among the legendary wines of the past – the 2001 included. It has a wonderful nose that expresses the Semillon component majestically: heady aromas of lemon curd, nectarine, jasmine and honeysuckle that all gain momentum in the glass. The oak is supremely well-integrated. The palate is extremely well-balanced with an unctuous entry. You are immediately knocked sideways by the palpable weight and volume in the mouth, which is almost “bulbous,” with layer upon layer of heavily botrytized fruit. It builds to a spicy finish with hints of marzipan and pralines in the background that lend it an untrammeled sense of exoticism. The 2009 is utterly fabulous and decadent, a star that will blaze brightly and undimmed for many years. Drink now-2060+. Tasted March 2014.