The 2016 Forcada is a new white from Penedès, produced with a recovered grape variety that names the wine. The wine has 12.5% alcohol and a pH of 2.98 with 8.5 grams of tartaric acid—really cold-climate parameters, quite unusual in a zone like this. The full clusters were pressed and the juice fermented at low temperature in stainless steel and kept with the lees until bottling. They like the evolution in bottle, so they tend to bottle it earlier and give it some time in bottle before it's released...

A bright and delicious albarino suggesting fresh herbs and yuzu. Full-bodied with a waxy core of preserved lemons, but the acidity is cutting and pure. So delicious to drink now.

The aromas of blackberries, dark chocolate and tar are persuasive. Some walnut and smoke, too. It’s full-bodied with firm, lightly chewy tannins and an intense, flavorful finish. Very structured and powerful. A blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot. Needs time to soften. Better after 2022.

Purity of fruit in this red, from plums and red berries to ripe strawberries. It’s full-bodied with firm, tight tannins that are polished and soft. Lovely tension and focus. Extremely well done. Try after 2020, but hard to resist now.

A very assertive and structured red with fresh red cherries and a palate that delivers abundant, ripe and smooth tannin. Drink or hold.

A juicy and flavorful red with dark-berry, spice and walnut character. Medium body. Firm and silky. Very long and delicious. Why wait? Drink now.

A complex wine that has plenty of ripe red-plum and blueberry notes that lead to a palate that offers a chalky, modern and fresh array of ripe plums and berries with assertive, spicy oak. Drink or hold. – July 2019, James Suckling

This red has density, but remains graceful, with a polished texture supported by well-integrated tannins and gentle but lively acidity. The black cherry, plum, forest floor, smoke and mineral notes are engaging and harmonious. Cariñena and Garnacha Tinta. Drink now through 2030. 1,957 cases made.

This firm white balances a broad texture with lively acidity, delivering pear, melon, toast and mineral flavors that remain fresh and juicy through the smoky finish. Harmonious. Drink now through 2026.

Earthy and mineral notes frame a core of plum and wild herb flavors in this thick red. Firm tannins and balsamic acidity support the dense texture. Subtle, savory and intense. Carignan, Grenache and Syrah. Drink now through 2030. 891 cases imported.

This red is firm, balanced and graceful. Currant and blackberry flavors mingle with smoke, loamy earth and mineral notes. The muscular tannins are well-integrated, the racy acidity lively. Restrained in style, but harmonious. Drink now through 2030.

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