Spain

Monjardin

Wine Advocate tasting note: The village red from Venta del Moro is the 2020 Delmoro produced with 70% Garnacha and 30% Syrah from 15- to 40-year-old vineyards. The grapes fermented separately with 50% full clusters in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts. The Garnacha matured in stainless steel, and the Syrah was racked into concrete for malolactic and five months' aging. It has 13% alcohol and very good freshness. This has an amazing Mediterranean profile, showy, juicy, aromatic and rich without being heavy. The tannins are fine, and the finish is dry and long. It's easy to drink but not banal, for all consumers, wine savvy or...

Wine Advocate 93 points. Juan António Ponce told me 2021 is one of those vintages when you realize in wine you never know everything... He thinks the 2021 Clos Lojen is the most complete vintage ever for this wine, with unusual freshness (despite "normal" parameters like a pH of 3.7 and five grams of acidity) and 12% alcohol. It's intense and has varietal Bobal typicity with good weight. It fermented in 4,500-liter oak vats with 100% full clusters and indigenous yeasts and matured in 4,500-, 10,000- and 15,000-liter French oak vats for six months. This is sharp and austere, with lower alcohol and is more mineral than...

Wine Advocate 92+. A new wine from the Viña Real winery, the 2020 Bakeder is a village red produced with Tempranillo grapes from Laguardia. It has contained oak and good ripeness at 13.95% alcohol, a more modern style of red that shows very young, quite fruit-driven and with a soft mouthfeel and velvety tannins. It has purity of fruit, elegance and finesse with respectful oak after 10 months in French barriques. There are some 30,000 bottles of this. It was first produced in 2019. LG Jul 2022.  

Wine Advocate 92 points. The 2017 Viña Real Reserva displays more advanced characteristics than the 2018 I tasted next to it. It has notes of forest floor intermixed with hints of fruit, berries in liqueur and some spices. 2017 was a very challenging year, and the wine is evolving at a faster pace. It's 13.9% alcohol and has a pH of 3.54, coming through as polished and ready to drink now. It's mostly Tempranillo with 10% other grapes—Graciano, Garnacha and Mazuelo. It matured in barrel for 18 months. 174,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2020. LG Jul 2022.

The 2021 Las Uvas de la Ira, produced and sold before by Dani Landi, is now a wine from Vitícola Mentridana under the direction of Curro Bareño, who takes over in this cool vintage. It was produced in the same way, from six vineyards in the village El Real De San Vicente, fermented separately and, depending on the vineyards, with shorter or longer macerations (longer in the vineyard they called El Fin del Mundo). Vinification has been like this since 2017, with contained extraction from the earlier-ripening vineyards and getting more grip from the slow-ripening places that have the rock and give the grip. It has contained...

Wine Advocate 92 points. The Monastrell red 2021 Depaula comes from vines at 700 meters in altitude on very poor soils, and sometimes the grapes don't ripen properly; but that was not the case in 2021, when the vines had enough water to ripen all the grapes thoroughly and produced a wine with very pure varietal character. It's fresh, balsamic and herbal, with a limestone core that delivers length and freshness coupled with a juicy Mediterranean character. Really good value. The wine has an incredible 12.5% alcohol. It's quite different from the 2020; they picked the grapes 15 days later than normal, and the grapes ripened...

James Suckling 90 points. Edulis Crianza is a red wine from the Rioja developed by the Altanza winery. This winery, founded in 1998, is located in the town of Fuenmayor (Rioja Alta). Edulis Crianza is made from 100% Tempranillo. The grapes come from vineyards planted at an altitude of between 380 and 500m on clay-calcareous soils and ferrous clay. For maintenance and cultivation of vineyards, non-chemical herbicides or pesticides are used. Edulis Crianza development is carried out using a conventional winemaking. The alcoholic fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature of 28°C and lasts 12 to 15 days....

Wine Advocate 94+. The single-vineyard red 2020 A Ponte comes from vines planted in 2010 replicating the old varietal mix, going back to ancestral times with 30% Mencía and then equal parts of Caíño Redondo and Caíño Longo, Sousón, Brancellao and Merenzao. The soils are slate with iron, quartz and mica, and this plot has a southeast exposition. The vines are getting older, which shows in the structure, and the mix of varieties always gives it a different nose. There is good freshness, and the wine is expressive and open. It has fine-grained tannins. 4,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in February...

Wine Advocate 92 points. The young red 2021 Vino Tinto is one of the first 2021 reds from Galicia that I taste from bottle. 2021 is supposed to be a return to the conditions of the vintages from yesteryear—cooler and with less ripeness, lower alcohol and more acidity but also viticultural challenges. This is always a sure value, and it is mostly Mencía with some 15% other local reds (Brancellao, Merenzao, Garnacha Tintorera, Mouratón, Negreda, Sousón, Caíño...) sourced from old vineyards. It is young and fermented in stainless steel and was kept in contact with the lees for four to eight months before...

Wine Advocate 92 points. One of the new wines this time was the 2019 Pedra, a blend of 80% Mencía and 20% other varieties. It matured in a granite egg that they feel opens the wines up quite a lot and 30% in oak to give it structure. It's fruit-driven, fresh and light with 13% alcohol from a very good vintage in the zone, not terribly complex and with a medium body and polished tannins. Ready. 1,000 bottles were filled in May 2023. LG Nov 2023.

Wine Advocate 92+. The 2020 Selección comes from a cooler year with enough rain and no stress in the vineyards, when they achieved a medium-bodied red with 14% alcohol and pH of 3.88. It is harmonious, balanced and elegant, with a medium-bodied palate and a velvety mouthfeel through its fine tannins. It reminds me of the classical reds from the zone before excess arrived. Classical Ribera with character, rusticity and elegance. 34,570 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2021. #MAY

Wine Advocate 94 points. The old-vine selection 2020 Viñas Viejas wants to express the soil over the variety, selecting the plots with grapes that have more flavors and acidity and produce wines with more character and length. The wine fermented in concrete and stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and matured in 500-liter barrels for eight months followed by additional time in 2,500- and 5,000-liter concrete vats. It has a restrained 14% alcohol denoting a cooler year with more rain, and there is great harmony and balance on the palate—a wine of purity and finesse within the rustic style of the zone. It has a velvety mouthfeel...

James Suckling 95 points. Penin Guide 96 points. Wine Advaocte 93 Points.   Tasting Notes : Dark-cherry red with a garnet-red rim. High aromatic intensity, with outstanding notes of ripe red fruit, red berries, wild strawberries and plum jam, leading to tertiary aromas from meticulous aging in oak: vanilla, cedar, tobacco, coffee, caramel and sweet patisserie notes. In the mouth, its initial freshness and structure, typical of this brand, predominate. Balanced, with soft, flavoursome tannins. Elegant, complex finish, where the ripe red fruit and balsamic notes provide a splendid end. Varietal : Blend of 95% Tempranillo , 5% Graciano...

James Suckling 95 points. A more vibrant and fruitier expression of Ardanza this year with strawberries, mussels, warm spices and berries. Round and silky on the palate with lovely spices and a long, nicely saline finish. A nice touch of creaminess works really well here and further extends the finish. 80% tempranillo and 20% garnacha. Drink or hold.   Wine Advocate 94 points, The 2017 Ardanza is another showstopper from La Rioja Alta. The grapes come from three vineyards in the Rioja Oriental region that are 30 years+ old and benefit from 550 metres altitude. The Tempranillo (80%) and Garnacha (20%) blend spends 3 years in American oak...

Wine Advocate 93+. The estate red 2016 Reserva comes from a late growing season and was produced with local varieties like Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano and others from their 86 hectares of vineyards at 590 to 805 meters in altitude on limestone, sandstone and marl soils. The grapes were picked late with good ripeness and health and fermented with natural yeasts in stainless steel and open-top oak vats and then matured in oak containers of different sizes for 20 to 21 months. These are more classical wines, with a more evolved nose, with high ripeness and some balsamic and medicinal notes. It has a dusty palate with Nebbiolo-like tannins....

Wine Advocate 95 points. The 2017s feel relaxed, something unusual in Priorat. The 2017 Clos Martinet has seen a change, as they stopped using the sorting table and stopped using the pied de cuve, because the harvest was very easy. They harvested in August—the earliest ever until 2018—and they didn't have time to do anything; so, they put the grapes in the vats and let them ferment, and that's what they have been doing ever since. They feel that there is less manipulation of the grapes now, and that could have helped to make wines more relaxed. This is truly harmonious and expressive, elegant and powerful, not showing any...

Wine Advocate 96 points. The flagship 2018 Clos Martinet is the wine that started it all and is still a blend of Garnacha (Tinta and Peluda), Syrah, Cariñena, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Monastrell as it was since the beginning but now with a restrained 13.5% alcohol and higher acidity. Clos Martinet is a single five-hectare terraced vineyard planted with clonal material in 1986 on decomposed llicorella slate, iron and big rocks in the soil. The varieties are co-fermented depending on the date picked—at three different ripening times—in two concrete vats and 200-liter oak vats with indigenous yeast and whole clusters....

Wine Advocate 96 points. Clos Martinet 2022  is a concentrated red wine with complex aromas of ripe red fruit accompanied by spicy notes, hints of undergrowth, and a charming minerality. On the palate, it is dense, deep, and well-structured. A wine with a broad entry, a very elegant progression, and a long and highly persistent finish.

Wine Advocate 96 points. "The 2022 Cami Pesseroles is mostly Carinena (90%) with some Garnacha from head-pruned old vines planted in 1939. Since 2017, the wine has matured in a chestnut foudre, which is the way it was produced in the past by the owners of the vineyard. It has color, concentration and rusticity that speaks about a time from the past. The 2022 feels a bit hurried and in need of some more time to gain definition. It has a pH that makes the tannic and rustic sensation on the palate a little more accentuated. It needs time. All the Carinena need time, and from the slate soils, it behaves better in glass than in other...

Wine Advocate 97 points. "The red that stands out in the 2022 range is the 2022 Els Escurcons, a pale, fragrant and delicate expression of Mediterranean Garnacha. It's textured and has a fine thread and chalky tannins. It keeps the pale, perfumed, ethereal, vibrant and clean profile of the 2021 with a little more ripeness but surprisingly low alcohol (13.5%). It was produced partly with carbonic maceration, all aged in clay amphorae for a few months and later in glass demijohn until they achieve the tension they are looking for. It's elegant and unique, very different from the majority of Priorat reds. To me, the 2022 is more...

Wine Advocate 93 points. "The 2022 Martinet Bru comes from a warm and dry vintage, so they did part with carbonic maceration and the rest with full clusters that were foot trodden all in concrete. The wine matured in concrete and only three months in used barriques. So, the wine has freshness and lightness but also ripeness (14% alcohol) and a very expressive nose with berries, licorice, Mediterranean herbs and some spices. It has a soft palate that is juicy and fruit-driven, with a notable mouthfeel and aftertaste. It has abundant, fine-grained tannins and a sense of harmony. 43,000 bottles, 1,078 magnums and some larger formats...

From our vineyards in Rioja Alta (500 metres). Intense ruby red colour, with terracotta tones at the rim, due to having been in the barrel. Aromas of ripe fruit, good varietal and subtle expression toasted to fine oak standing out for its elegance, fineness, complexity and long finish . Its flavour is smooth and rounded on entry with very pleasant, velvety sensations. Its tannic structure is elegant and very well constituted, its aftertaste is noteworthy for its lasting finish. 12 months in 70% French and 30% American barrels. VARIETY: 90% Tempranillo, 10% Mazuelo. SOIL: Middle zone. Sandy loam soils with...

Tim Atkin MW 91 points. Gold Medal, Brussels Concours Mondial 2022. Intense cherry colour, garnet rim. Intense aroma of candied fruit, sweet spices perfectly integrated with quality wood, making it elegant. Very tasty in the mouth, powerful and fruity, with ripe tannins. AGEING: 14 months in barrel. 70% French oak and 30% American oak. VARIETY: 100% Tempranillo. SOIL: High zone Altitude 830-950m. Clay- Calcareous soil with limestone. SERVING TEMPERATURE: 14 – 16o C.

Tim Atkin MW 91 points. Very deep bright, cherry-red colour. Very intense aroma with marked fruity sensations of blackberry and blueberries perfectly integrated with quality wood that envelops everything. Good structure and good fruity expression in the mouth, powerful, with ripe tannins. AGEING: 5 months in barrel. 50% French oak and 50% American oak. VARIETY: 100% Tempranillo. SOIL: Middle zone Altitude 800-830m. Sandy loam soils with pebbles.  

Tim Atkin MW 95 points. Gold Medal, Brussels Concourse Mondial 2022. Wine Spectator 94 points.   Monteabellón Finca La Blanquera was created as a tribute to Fabián, the grandfather, who transmitted to his children and grandchildren the passion for viticulture. Finca La Blanquera is our vineyard located at a higher altitude with stony soil and high limestone content from which we obtain this unique wine. Very deep cherry colour. Powerful aroma, notes of blackberries in jam with elegant toasted tones. In the mouth it is meaty and velvety, with a long and persistent finish AGEING: 24 months in 100% French oak...

Wine Enthusiast 95 points. "Inky violet in color, this wine has aromas of blackberry, dark chocolate and lavender. Flavors of black cherry, dark chocolate, mint and coffee bean mingle with plush tannins. As chocolate and mint fade, bright fruit takes over and lingers on the palate." -  95/100 ,  Wine Enthusiast.. Gold Medal, Brussels Concourse Mondial. 2022.   WINERY Note: Monteabellón Finca Matambres is the purest expression of Tempranillo from our most important vineyards. A clayey-calcareous soil, the perfect orientation and our love for viticulture results in a very expressive, elegant wine. After spending...

Tim Atkin MW 94 points. Monteabellón Finca Matambres is the purest expression of Tempranillo from our most important vineyards. A clayey-calcareous soil, the perfect orientation and our love for viticulture results in a very expressive, elegant wine. After spending 20 months in the barrel a signature wine is obtained.

Wine Advocate 92 points. The 2019 El Andén de la Estación is a new red that takes advantage of the Barrio de la Estación, the train station neighborhood of Haro. It's a Crianza with less extraction, looking for the elegance and finesse of the classical Rioja wines. It's a blend of Tempranillo from their younger vines and Garnacha (that they buy) that matured in French and European barrels for 14 months. It's a quaffable red with lots of Garnacha character (it might represent up to 30% of the blend, by far the highest in Garnacha from the portfolio). It's floral, juicy and expressive, very open and...

Top Ten Best Selling Wines - December 2022 Under $60 James Suckling 93 points. Plenty of dried flowers, dark berries and sandalwood on the nose. Full body. Firm and silky tannins. Gorgeous finish. Drink or hold.. Wine Spectator 93 Points. This generous red is rich and round, with ripe tannins and orange peel acidity. Cherry, dried currant, licorice, vanilla and spice flavors are ample yet focused. A balance of traditional and modern styles. Drink now through 2030. #TOP10

Top Ten Best Selling Wines - December 2022 Under $60 A perfumed nose of dark cherry, plum, coconut, cedar and dried thyme. Full-bodied with chewy tannins. Rich and structured with a chalky texture and a firm, delicious finish. Better from 2022. 92 Points James Suckling. #TOP

James Suckling 96 points Numanthia is the most emblematic wine from Bodega Numanthia, and is considered as one of the great wines from D.O. Toro. Numanthia gets its name from Numancia, a city famous of the resistance of an epic attack from the Roman army. The citizens defenced the city until the end, choosing death rather than surrender. Drawing a parallel with history, the Numanthia vines have resisted the extreme climate for almost 100 years and have been able to overcome some "bloody" episodes like the phylloxera epidemic in the nineteenth century. Numanthia is a single variety Tinta de Toro, the reigning variety in D.O. Toro....

Wine Advocate 93 points. They are going for lower yields and less bottles of the 2020 La Montesa and slowly putting prices up, as they feel the wine is more serious than what the perception of the affordable price makes it. 2020 is a powerful vintage; it's structured and textured, the oak is very nicely integrated (12 months in barrel, but the powerful wine absorbed it completely), and it's powerful with 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.55, a little darker than in previous years. The tannins are very fine with a subtle chalky texture. There were 2,319 barrels that resulted in 672,000 bottles, 10,000 magnums and some larger and smaller...

Palacios Remondo La Vendimia 2021 is a vivacious red that captivates with its bouquet of ripe cherries and raspberries, interwoven with a subtle hint of vanilla and black pepper. On the palate, it is succulent, with an inviting acidity that beckons one to take another sip, and velvety tannins that allow the wine to glide effortlessly across the taste buds. It is a youthful wine, exuding a carefree personality, ideal for those seeking to revel in the unadulterated essence of fruit at its most genuine. Red wine Oak. 5 months in oak barrels.

“A perfect combination of deep concentration and elegance and very silky tannins, with a serious structure, all expressed with fluidity. I am impressed by the texture of this wine” Jancis Robinson.   WINERY MOTE: 17  by  PINEA is a 100% Tempranillo red wine, with a fine, velvety texture that perfectly combines a luxurious core of fruit and subtle notes of new oak, giving it freshness as well as body and intensity. 17 reflects the full potential of the Tempranillo grape, harmoniously capturing the intensity of flavours and aromas typical of the Ribera del Duero, but from a new angle with different, subtle charms....

“A concentrated, elegant Ribera del Duero with a persistent, polished finish”. James Suckling.   #4 Best Spanish Wine for 2023   WS 95 (3/2023): "This full-bodied red is rich and concentrated, yet fresh and elegant overall. Offers plush texture wrapped around a firm frame of sculpted tannins, carrying violet-laced notes of ripe black plum, dried fig, eucalyptus and spices. Hints of coffee and smoke enrich the lasting finish. Drink now through 2033. 835 cases made," WINERY NOTE:   PINEA is a signature wine named after the majestic, legendary  Pinus Pinea tree that stands guard over our vineyards....

Preludio de Sei Solo  is a red wine from the  Ribera del Duero  region produced by  Bodegas Sei Solo . It is made using only  Tinto Fino (Tempranillo)   grapes. The grapes that are used to make  Preludio de Sei Solo  come from nine small plots situated in the locality of  La Horra,  in the province of  Burgos.  The vines, which are around 60-90 years old, are of a very low yield. Only 7,000 bottles of this wine are produced per vintage. On arrival at the winery, the grapes are pass through the process of being desetemmed, followed by undergoing cold maceration. Then...

Wine Advocate 91 points. As with many reds from 2017, I was pleasantly surprised by the 2017 Hado, which Carlos San Pedro told me could be a modern version of the 2005 (and 2016, perhaps 2007). It has good ripeness, black rather than red fruit and spicy oak. The palate is still a bit tannic, but this wine will not be released until October 2019, so it will have some time to polish those tannins in bottle. LG June 2019. #22

Wine Advocate 94 points. The eminently Mediterranean 2020 Uno was produced with Monastrell grapes from ungrafted 57-year-old vines picked at full ripeness with plenty of aromas and flavors. It fermented in open-top vats with indigenous yeast and was foot trodden and matured in a 5,000-liter oak vat for 12 months. So, the oaking is almost imperceptible and the wine comes through as balanced, harmonious, varietal and clean, very expressive, with a medium to full body and very fine tannins. Superb. It should age nicely in bottle. 6,600 bottles were filled in January 2022.  

A natural wine from a tiny hamlet named Bellvisos in Priorat. What makes it so unique is it relative cool and shady outlook. Anybody who has visited Priorat in the summer will appreciate just how valuable this is. A blend of Grenache and Petit Carinena (an amazingly rare varietal) - this wine is rose in colour and best served as an aperitif and chilled...   95PTS WINE ADVOCATE The 2021 Partida Pedrer Negre was produced with 100% full clusters and fermented with dry carbonic maceration; they extract the juice every day, and then it was pressed after 10 to 12 days and then fermented in the tank and then matured in amphorae of very...

Wine Advocate 91 points. The entry-level red is the 2019 Románico, produced with Tinta de Toro (a.k.a. Tempranillo) from younger vines (10 to 25 or 30 years old, some of them grafted) in the villages of Valdefinjas and Toro. It fermented in a traditional way, foot trodden and with soft pumping overs, with indigenous yeasts selected from their own vineyards and matured in used French oak barrels for an average of six to eight months, as some wine is kept in stainless steel and other lots are aged in barrel for longer. This is primary and fruit-driven (black fruit), with purity and something floral; it's juicy and tender, with ripe,...

Wine Advocate 93 points.   The 2019 7 Fuentes El Lance, a red blend that changes with the vintage, was a blend of 70% Listán Negro, 20% Castellana Negra and 10% Vijariego Negro from different plots from five vineyards—Habanera, Florida, Pencones, Cruz Santa and Diego—fermented in plastic bins and concrete vats with 20% to 100% full clusters, depending on the variety, with indigenous yeasts and without temperature control. It matured in used 500-liter oak barrels for nine months. It has a medium body and ripeness with 12.5% alcohol. It's very volcanic, stony and tasty, with very fine tannins and tasty flavors. This...

Wine Advocate 96 points. James Suckling 95 points. Decanter 95 points.   Blend of mostly Tinto Fino then Navarro, Valenciano, and Albillo. "There is a change in the 2020 Matallana, as they have included Jean-Guillaume Prats (ex-Cos d'Estournel, ex-Lafite...) in the Ribera del Duero project, and the wine is going to be sold for the first time with this vintage through the négociant system of La Place de Bordeaux. The grapes from the five villages (mentioned but then crossed out on the label) were picked between the sixth and 18th of October and fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel and oak vats. The...

Wine Advocate 91 points. The light red 2021 Tragolargo is a pure fruit-driven and young Monastrell from a vineyard on sandy and limestone soils in the Casa Balaguer property. It was picked early to preserve acidity and fermented with one-third full clusters and the rest uncrushed. In 2021 there was a heat wave that affected the whites, but they consider it a very good year for reds. It has 13.5% alcohol and a medium body, bottled unoaked, primary, young and fleshy. 25,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2022.  

94 points Wine Spectator: “This full-bodied red is generous yet structured, featuring depth and balance. Ripe flavors of plum and currant mingle with cocoa, clove and mineral notes, supported by mouthcoating tannins and balsamic acidity. Harmonious and long. Best from 2022 through 2037." Bodegas Valderiz is located in Roa, where some of the most complex Tinta del Pais grapes in Spain are produced. In 1980, the head of the family, Tomas Esteban considered his options for making the most of their plots. The vineyard began to take shape over the next 10 years with the efforts and devotion of his sons Juan and Ricardo. The current...

Mundus Vini 2018, Trophy, Best Wine from Ribera del Duero. AWC Vienna, Gold Medal, 2017.   Vintage: 2005 Varieties: 100% Tempranillo grape from vineyards over 80 years old. Vineyard: Located between 800 and 850 meters of altitude Soils: Granites and sandstones from the alteration of the bedrock Alcoholic grade: 14.5% vol. Harvest: The year 2005 turned out to be a short vegetative cycle, due to an early frost in September, which did not affect the grapes, which were already ripe and of optimal quality to be harvested. The harvest was carried out between September 15 and 20, 2005, with an average...

4 Golds. AWC Vienna 2023; Beverage Testing Institute 2021 Mundus Vini 2021 Les Citadelles du Vin 2017 Tim Aitken 91/100 Penin Guise 91/100 Vintage: 2009 Varieties: 100% Tempranillo grape from vineyards over 80 years old. Vineyard: Located between 800 and 850 meters of altitude Soils: Granites and sandstones from the alteration of the bedrock Alcoholic grade: 14.5% vol. Harvest: The 2009 vintage had a balanced development cycle of the vines, with the typical temperature contrast between day and night throughout the summer, which allowed the production of a wine of exceptional quality, with a powerful structure...

Gold Medal IWC Vienna 2011. Vintage: 2003 Varieties: 100% Tempranillo grape from vineyards over 80 years old. Vineyard: Located between 800 and 850 meters of altitude. Soils: Granites and sandstones from the alteration of the bedrock Alcoholic grade: 15% vol. Harvest: This vintage was especially complicated due to the drought and strong heat, but the good weather conditions of the vintage with wide contrasts between day and night achieved excellent maturation, which has allowed us to carry out this magnificent elaboration. The harvest was carried out on October 3 and 4, 2003 with an average temperature of...