The 2016 Mas de la Rosa is the bottled version of their new Priorat wine that I previewed last year under the name Santuari de la Rosa. This comes from 1.9 hectares of old vines planted in one of the first known properties in the village of Porrera, on a slope (a traditional "coster"), where the plants only get the morning sun, and the altitude (500 meters) and the constant wind in the zone result in a particularly fresh wine. I didn't have the time to visit the vineyard as I had planned, but I added it to my priority list for the next time I cover the region...

This wine represents the summit of Torres' experience in Priorat. The family has been in the region for a number of years, with its Salmos and Perpetual bottlings, but their deep understanding of the region is demonstrated in this jewel. A single-vineyard that must in time become a gran vinya classificada (grand cru) of Priorat. The name, Mas de la Rosa, honours the floral notes in the nose, with delicate fruit and no sign whatsoever of over-ripeness. Finely grained in the mouth, it's more Burgundian than Mediterranean: so fresh and savoury. Great!

Old-vine Cariñena (95%) and Garnacha (5%) is sourced from plots across Priorat, with the vines all aged between 80 and 100 years. The result is a dramatic, dense and layered wine that still retains an engaging freshness and benefits from thoughtful use of oak: 70% of the blend is aged for 18 months in new French oak barrels and 30% in foudres. Notes of bilberry, mulberry and red currants sit alongside dried fruit and savoury notes of spice and leather. There's some fruit pastille juiciness and mouthcoating tannins. More to come with time in bottle.

Taking its names from the walls surrounding Poblet Monastery in Conca de Barberà, this wine demonstrates the work done by Torres to resurrect native Spanish grape varieties. Along with Garnacha (42%), Cariñena (40%) and Monastrell (5%), the blend includes the less familiar Querol and Garró; parcels are picked, vinified and aged separately, before final blending. With a distinctively Catalan character, this vintage is already quite complete, showing lovely integration of tannins and oak. Vanilla-edged black fruit aromas: black cherries, summer pudding character, warm brown spices...

Perhaps it's the 33 percent Querol component, but from the very first moment you approach this brooding, black-purple wine, something marks it out as exceptional and different from its regional peers. There's drama in the aromas; the sweet black fruits also seem to smell of crushed stone and seed spice. Once in the mouth, the wine is close-knit, vital with inner gathered force. The fruits are more complex than the aromas had suggested once on the palate; they are gently acid-sustained, and those crushed-stone flavours are present on the tongue, too...

This is a super balanced Ribera del Duero that shows blueberries, mulberries, bilberries, sage and eucalyptus. Subtly shaped, this trades in fresh berries, edgy tannins and forthright acidity. Bright on the medium-chewy finish. Drink now.

Fragrant and suave, this is a very enticing modern style Rioja with great balance of fruit. Elegant tannins give the long finish some real complexity. Delicious now, but could age. – January 2018, James Suckling