2004 Celler Vall Llach RP--93 WS--93

Wine Spectator: 93 Points
Score: 93 Release Price: $85 Country: Spain Region: Spain Issue: Aug 31, 2007 This dense red shows a powerful structure, yet there's also a tender texture, delivering sweet berry, garrigue and cocoa flavors that are pure and balanced. This is built for the long haul. Decant now. Best after 2009. 450 cases imported.--TM

Robert Parker: 93 Points
Wine Advocate #169 Feb 2007 Jay Miller 93? Drink: N/A $78-$88 (85) The 2004 Vall Llach is the flagship wine of the estate. Produced from estate old-vine fruit consisting of 65% Carinena, 20% Merlot, and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine was aged for 16 months in new French oak. Purple-colored, the nose offers scents of pain grille, fresh herbs, mineral, spice box, and blackberry liqueur. On the palate the wine is backward and unyielding. Full-bodied (15.5% alcohol), and packed, there is plenty of ripe tannins and excellent balance but purchasers of this wine will require patience. The 2004 Vall Llach will need a minimum of a decade of cellaring to blossom. It should easily last for several decades but will it ever be fun to drink? If I were young and a gambler, I�d lay away a handful of bottles and roll the dice later in life.