100

Luis Gutierrez

Robert Parker/Wine Advocate

I also tasted two vintages of the top wine, starting with the 2013 Clos Erasmus, which follows the line towards more freshness, less oak and extraction started with 2012. It's mostly Garnacha, with some 25% Syrah, fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged mostly in French oak barriques (40% new), plus a couple of amphorae where it matured until bottling at the end of May 2015. I had followed the 2013 since before it was bottled, and every time I tasted it I liked it better and better, and I formed the idea that it was the purest, most elegant Erasmus ever produced. I was really eager to taste the bottled version of it, which I hadn't encountered until this day. And I can tell you, it didn't disappoint me at all. In fact, it was probably better than what I tasted before bottling. It's the essence of Garnacha put through a sieve of slate, with some subtle spices, with an ethereal quality I had never before seen in this wine. The palate is silky, with a seamless texture. It combines the finest fabric with the essence of the dusty roads from Priorat, elegant and rustic at the same time, like the proverbial British farmer dressed in the best corduroy trousers and tweed jacket, beautifully textured. The wet slate and the Mediterranean herbs take over the aromatic front with time in the glass, and it kept changing over the course of two hours that I followed the wine in the glass, with more and more nuances and filigree every time I went back for it. It's approachable now but I foresee a long and positive evolution in the bottle for 15+ years. The opened bottled kept fresh for a couple of days. I wish I could time travel to the future and taste it then... I think this really merits a perfect score. There are 3,000 bottles produced. 10/2016

100

Jeb Dunnuck

Jeb Dunnuck

I’ve been lucky enough to have tasted the 2013 Clos Erasmus on multiple occasions and it’s never failed to top out on my scale. Offering phenomenal notes of crème de cassis, liquid rock like minerality, graphite, and violets, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, building, ultra-fine tannin, and an incredible sense of purity and elegance. With nothing out of place, perfect balance, and a huge finish, this tour de force is a monumental wine from an incredible region – and an incredible winemaker. From a cool, late vintage, the 2013 is 75% Garnacha and 25% Syrah aged mostly in 40% new French oak, with 5% in amphorae. There’s a scant 266 cases for the world. 02/2018