98 Points - Louis Gutiérrez, RobertParker.com

Clos Mogador is one of Spain's, and in particular, Priorat's most important wines. This iconic label is the brainchild and life's work of one man and his family, Rene Barbier. It's more refined these days but it is nonetheless a rich, brash wine. Grenache and Carignan do most of the heavy lifting, with Shiraz and Cab Sauvignon in supporting roles.

The vineyard is a 20Ha amphitheater of crumbling slate. The vines are at 350 metres and are surrounded by mountains up to 1,200 metres high and the vineyard’s lower extremes are adjacent to the Siurana River.

"The eponymous red 2021 Clos Mogador fermented with some 30% full clusters trying to give it more freshness (but without noticing the stems) with a long maceration (40 to 50 days) and (almost) no punching down, with less extraction. There's been a progressive change in the vineyard (they removed the south-facing Cabernet Sauvignon), and they increased Cariñena (around 30%), which in the future will be almost as much as Garnacha. It has aromatic complexity and a beautiful texture. It matured in 2,000-liter oak foudres and a small part in barrel and later in concrete. The wine has 14% alcohol and has the Priorat, Mogador and Mediterranean character (wet slate, graphite, aromatic herbs) with more elegance and freshness. The tannins are also a lot more elegant, and the wine comes through as very balanced. They produced 35,000 bottles of this. It was bottled in June 2023. Drink 2025-2036"

98 Points - Louis Gutiérrez, RobertParker.com