The red 2018 Tros de Clos now has more mentions on the label, like Mas del Metge, the lieu-dit within the property, and Vila del Lloar, the village where the property is, trying to be more site specific. The wine has a bright ruby color and a nose of red fruit and flowers, more elegant and fresh than I remember. It is clean and has moderate ripeness (13.5% alcohol) and an elegant, medium-bodied palate but keeping some of the Cari?ena characteristics, notes of earth and tree bark and some dusty tannins. I love it! The wine is now certified organic. 918 bottles were filled in February 2020 after 18 months in bocoy (large barrels).

The 2014 Tros de Clos had notes of tempera paint, licorice, raw meat and leather with an overall animal profile. The palate is dry, with some dusty tannins. This character that was already present in the 2013 seems to have grown. Too animal for my liking.

Sourced from the same old Cari?ena plot as the 2012, the 2013 Tros del Clos revealed some of the savage, slightly animal notes that I detected in other 2013s from Alfredo Arribas. As is the case for most of the 2012 and 2013 wines I tasted side by side, I ended up liking the 2012s better. There is something vegetal/herbal here plus a different texture and special kind of dryness common to other 2013s that make these wines less attractive and detract for their overall balance. 1,790 bottles produced.

Pure Cari?ena from a low-yielding vineyard planted in 1911, the 2012 Tros del Clos was full-cluster fermented in open barrels with indigenous yeasts for 30 days with manual punch-down. The wine was matured in used French oak barrels for one year and bottled unfined and unfiltered. This is a serious and powerful Cari?ena, showing a restrained character with those telltale earthy notes of iron, blood and tree bark, black fruit and some graphite. The palate is extremely balanced, has earthy tannins and mineral notes with good acidity and freshness. It is serious and has the elegant rusticity of Cari?ena that should develop further in bottle. 1,458 bottles produced.

The 2011 Clos del Portal Tros de Clos, whole cluster fermented pure Carinena from a patch of vines planted in 1911, seems like a much more balanced version of the Somni, as the duration of the oak aging has been the same, 14 months, but in this case neither nose nor palate are dominated by the wood given the sheer concentration of the fruit, which is ripe and black-colored and appears intermixed with soil overtones of forest floor, truffles and smoked peat, with much more precision and focus. The palate is full-bodied, with powerful tannins, appropriate for the size of the wine. This beast should age for a long time and is able to deal with the most powerful dishes you can think of. A bodybuilder from Priorat. Drink 2016-2022. Lawyer Alfredo Arribas has been the name behind Portal del Priorat since 2001. The wines are sourced from the property Clos del Portal, located between the villages of Lloar and Bellmunt. He also produces another Priorat under the Ediciones i-Limitadas label. You will find his wines also in Montsant (Portal del Montsant before, but under his own name now and Ediciones i-Limitadas). More will come in the future, as he has a new biodynamic project in a high-altitude vineyard. Anything with the name of Alfredo Arribas deserves attention, as the great collection of wines from Priorat show. Various American importers: Martin Scott Wines Ltd., Fruit of the Vines Ltd. and Vignehaute Group LLC