I found the 2018 Selecció Especial pure Cari?ena to be more harmonious than the blend of Vinyas Vellas, despite having similar alcohol levels at 14.5%. It has a low pH of 3.3 and 5.82 grams of tartaric acid per liter of wine, very good parameters for freshness and typical of Cari?ena on slate soils from Priorat. It has notes of wild berries and flowers, graphite and smoke and spices after aging in 225-liter French barriques for 18 months. A long-distance runner. 4,230 bottles and 150 magnums were filled in August 2020.

The top of the range, the 2017 Selecció Especial is pure Cari?ena from centenary vines on a "coster" (slope) of llicorella slate in the village of Porrera. The wine matured in 225-liter French oak barrels for 19 months and is going to be kept in bottle for a couple of years, as it won't be released until late 2021. This has higher alcohol and higher acidity than the other 2017s, and the balance is in a different point. This is a powerful Cari?ena with a strong Priorat character. The tannins are fine-grained, and the wine is seamless and textured, with a strong mineral sensation (again, a texture), finishing with a salty twist. This is superb, the finest vintage I have tasted of this wine. 3,898 bottles and 150 magnums were filled in July 2019.

The expressive 2016 Selecció Especial reminds me of the 2010, with all the baby fat and all the primary notes still there. It seems to have a lot of everything in an amazing balance, so nothing feels out of place—acidity, tannins, fruit, saltiness. It's full bodied, with soft tannins and a subtle thread of acidity going through its core. It should make old bones. It's so elegant I forgot I was tasting a Cari?ena... 3,679 bottles and 100 magnums.

The 2015 Selecció Especial, pure Cari?ena from centenary vines in the village of Porrera, matured in new French oak barrels for 19 months. 2015 was a warm and dry year with some rains in June that saved the crop. 2015 is a powerful and concentrated vintage, and it has all the classic Priorat notes of graphite and wet slate along with the elegant rusticity that only the best Cari?ena is capable of. It has a full-bodied palate with glossy fruit and dusty tannins, powerful but neatly balanced. The finish is dry, with a dark, stony sensation. 3,650 bottles and 100 magnums were filled in July 2017.

To catch up on the top of the range, I tasted three vintages, the oldest of which is the 2014 Selecció Especial, pure Cari?ena from extremely old vines cropped from a cooler and wetter year. It matured in French barrels for 18 months. This certainly has the advantage of a little more bottle age, which is a must for these powerful reds, and it feels harmonious, nuanced and expressive, with dark fruit and an earthy sensation reminiscent of peat and wet stones. The palate is full-bodied with a textured feeling and some fine-grained tannins, lifted by good freshness and acidity. It finishes dry and long. 3,192 bottles and 100 magnums produced. It was bottled in July 2016.