R. Parker (96/100)
The new red 2023 Ferrero i Senís La Pebrella was produced with 50% Arcos on sandy soil and 50% old-vine, head-pruned Forcallà in a place with more clay, both rich in limestone, fermented separately with full clusters in their old stone lagar and matured in glass demijohn and tinaja. It has a pale and bright color and is slightly reductive ("Arcos is always reductive," winemaker Paco Senís told me). It's flinty and mineral, but behind that, it has a very expressive nose that is floral and spicy (it has lots of freshly crushed black peppercorn aromas, one of the textbook aromatic descriptors of Arcos), with fine tannins. It was a very dry year that was saved by some rain. The nose is light, fresh and jovial, but the palate is a lot more serious, deeply intense, very spicy, pungent and long, full of energy and light. The wine finished with a moderate 12.39% alcohol, a pH of 3.42 and 4.95 grams of acidity. This is a breakthrough red for Celler del Roure—a wine of finesse and elegance. Bravo! Pebrella is a local herb related to thyme (and oregano?), and they wanted to name the wine after it since it's an important ingredient in the local gastronomy.