The Wine Front – An encouraging bronze tint to the colour. Musk perfume, peach, lychee and pear, a little spice. Juicy lychee and pear flavours, balanced acidity, some pleasing chalky texure, nice crunch and sweetness on the finish. Lovely. Fine balance. Easy to enjoy. A very strong release.

James Halliday – "Pressed to barrels (30% new) for wild fermentation. All the smart chardonnay techniques in play, 9 months on lees with minimal bâttonage. Lovely ripe flavours, of melon more than peach. Barrel-ferment characters like a touch of gingery spice, while the citrus elements push just a little towards tangy mandarin. Plenty on offer at this price."

Huon Hooke – "Bright, light to mid-yellow colour with a herbal, vegetal, silage and aroma, a strongly-oaked wine with a lot of vegetal notes. Full and soft, round and easygoing in the mouth, with generous Cognac-like oak and cleansing dryness to finish."

Wine Spectator – A vibrant, elegant and mineral-infused white, with green peach and dried apricot flavors, supported by fresh acidity. Cream and spice details linger on the finish, showing touches of richness. Drink now through 2022.

Jancis Robinson – ‘Slightly herbal/ reductive, withheld nose. Smoky grapefruit. Salty, dry and stony, with restrained citrus fruit. Salty finish. Juicy and mouth-watering. Drink 2017-2025.’ 17/20 points, Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com, August 2016.

James Halliday – Deep colour; a distinguished, full-bodied Bordeaux blend with blackcurrant, mulberry, black olive, briar and French oak all in play. Has the length and balance to repay extended cellaring." Halliday Wine Companion '17

World Wine – The Cillar de Silos Crianza is produced with the fruit from different old-vine plots (40 to 50 years of age) on sand and lime soils, feels quite classical, with aromas of ripe black fruit, spicy oak and an herbal side that adds freshness. The palate is remarkably fresh for the vintage, with polished, fine tannins and enough acidity. A very good crianza.

World Wine – This is a remarkable wine. Texture, purity, aroma, line and length … it's punchy (lemon drops and all that), but soft with lovely golden release (green-grassy herbs, fennel, electric pollen, lemon jube): the wine is open-fermented and spends a couple of days on skins for textural evolution to avoid strictness, and gains a lovely sense of roll without losing any of the line and zap you want.

Robert Parker/Wine Advocate – This is produced from what Pepe Raventós considers a great vintage that will be considered historic in the future. That year they harvested 25 days later than the recent average, so the grapes had time to ripen slowly to perfection with a long cycle that also held acidity and the wines are very fresh. This is sourced mostly form the Viña de la Plana, which has plenty of clay on the chalky mother rock (120 centimeters below) and quite deep soils that produce wines of good freshness and balance. They also use part of purchased grapes from organic growers as their idea is to keep some 20% of grapes from external suppliers. They like to work with some of the old-timers, the local people that know and understand the zone. The wine blends the three traditional grapes, Macabeo, Xarello and Parellada and ages no less than 18 months in contact with the lees (with a maximum of 30 and an average of 24). It is Extra-Brut (five grams of residual sugar). The powerful and expressive nose is really fresh, mixing fennel, aniseed, bread dough, in a very balanced, elegant and subtle way. The palate is extremely fresh (the signature of the vintage) and balanced with amazing weight of fruit, the lees/yeasts do not overpower the fruit and the finish is very long. This is one of the best sparkling wines in its category and price range, especially in this vintage.

World Wine – Vinous Brilliant ruby. Intense, spice-accented, ripe black and blue fruits, violets and smoky, mineral aromas build in the glass. The sweet, expansive palate reveals concentrated blueberry and boysenberry flavors that tighten up slowly on the back half. The finish clings with excellent tenacity, providing a framework for the wine's exuberant dark fruit.

Robert Parker/Wine Advocate – The Coteaux du Languedoc Terrasses du Larzac Les Obriers offers fabulous Cinsault character and shows how interesting this variety can be when done right. Incredibly floral and perfumed, with sweet blackberry, violets, lilacs and exotic spices, this medium-bodied, elegant and silky effort builds on the palate, shows notable freshness and a pure, hard-to-resist feel. I'd drink it over the coming 4-5 years, but it will evolve for longer.