Spain

97 Points! The 2013 Reserva Viña Tondonia is a blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 10% Graciano and Mazuelo, grown in the calcareous soils of the Tondonia meander in Rioja Alta. Aged extensively in American oak, it offers restrained black fruit, wild herbs, balsamic hints and sweet spices with gentle cedar and vanilla notes. Medium-bodied with chalky grip and a layered, tertiary finish, this is a benchmark classic—refined, enduring and unmistakably Tondonia. - Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous

95 Points! The canonical red 2013 Viña Tondonia Reserva has a developed nose of dried roses and tar that transported me to Piamonte but soon took me back to the López de Heredia cellars in Haro with the mixture of mushrooms, truffles, damp earth and decayed leaves, hints of brick dust and spice. 2013 was a rainy year, with 753 liters of it, well above the average of 530 liters in Haro. It was also a cooler year, and the ripeness was slow, so they didn't start picking until the seventh of October, but they had to hurry up because of the risk of botrytis. The crop was not so big, because they suffered from hail in July that affected the Viña Tondonia, coupled with strong winds that broke many branches. The breakdown in 2013 comes to 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho and 5% each Graciano and Mazuelo that fermented in old oak vats with indigenous yeasts. All the wines age in old American oak barrels in their caves, in this case for no less than six years. It comes in at 13% alcohol with a pH of 3.4 and 6.6 grams of acidity, perhaps a lighter vintage with higher acidity that translates into a lot of energy, a fine-boned palate and very fine tannins with a vibrant finish... It should be released in the spring of 2025, almost 12 years after the harvest. And look at the price... - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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99 Points! The 2016 Único was perfumed and elegant, showcasing a very good vintage in the region. Winemaker Gonzalo Iturriaga started in 2015—a powerful year—and he remembers 2016 as a very balanced year, with higher yields and finer-boned wines. The winter was mild, and there was a cooler than average spring and a warm summer. September was dry, which provided healthy grapes and balanced ripening. The harvest started the 22nd of September and finished the 11th of October. The bottled wine is 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon with 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.82 and 4.8 grams of acidity. It has the old Vega perfume, intoxicating, complex and nuanced, full of personality and a very energetic palate, vibrant and fresh, not lacking power but with lots of elegance. The wine is released 10 years after the harvest, combining time in new and used American and French oak barrels and 20,000-liter oak vats, and it obviously spends plenty of time in bottle. This is a monumental vintage of Único. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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91 Points! This sleek white crackles with energy and racy acidity, with flavors of crunchy pear, persimmon, lime peel and lemon thyme underscored by stone and salt notes. Offers good length on the bright, minerally finish. Drink now through 2028. - Wine Spectator

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91 Points! Aromas of chalk, blackberries, dark chocolate and dark plums with a balsamic edge. Medium- to full-bodied with compact, tight-grained tannins. Structured and flavorful. - JamesSuckling.com

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97+ Points! The bottled 2023 San Lázaro, from the 1.62 hectares of vines they have, shows contained ripeness and has 14.4% alcohol. This is always more restrained, and there's no exuberance here; there's subtleness, finesse and verticality. It has a spicy side, with notes reminiscent of curry, a little à la Vosne-Romanée, a little cinnamon perhaps, but with the Tempranillo austerity, of course. The palate is medium-bodied, with great balance and super fine and elegant tannins. The wine is a little closed at the moment, but it should grow with time in bottle. It's really good and challenges El Carretil this year. I give it the edge—perhaps because it is the more approachable of the 2023s. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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97 Points! The only current red Gran Reserva is the 1995 Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva, the one that is produced exactly the same as before, including fining with egg whites and sealing with red wax. 1995 was an excellent and early harvest, the grapes achieved full ripeness and were harvested under the sun during two weeks starting October 9. The wine, which exceptionally achieved 13% alcohol, is the usual blend, 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho, 5% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo (Cariñena). Like all their wines, it fermented with indigenous yeasts in old oak vats and as a Gran Reserva it matured in old American oak barrels for ten years! Yes, it was bottled in November 2006 and launched in 2015, a full 20 years after the harvest. This light-colored, ethereal 1995 is the essence of Viña Tondonia. It has developed aromas and complexity gained with the time in bottle, of incense, leather, cured meat, cherries in liqueur, cold bonfire and spices. The palate is super-tasty, with fully-resolved tannins and very good acidity. The texture is super-fine, sophisticated and ethereal with gob-smacking balance. Intense, powerful and elegant, too. Hard to believe, but this red feels too young and while approachable, I'd wait a couple of years or more because it will be much better. The profile follows the style of the great classics of the 1950s and 60s. Bottles like this are the ones that created the López de Heredia myth. This could be lighter than the 1994, but in the long run I believe the 1995 will be the better bottle. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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92 Points! Racy red bramble berries with notes of hibiscus, pomegranates, cochineal and cherries. Some chewy tannins add more gravity to the otherwise medium-bodied palate. Juicy, firm and stony in the medium-long finish. - JamesSuckling.com

91 Points! A fresh, balanced red, with fragrant hints of dried rosemary and thyme, resin, and milled pepper accenting the core of creamy black raspberry and black plum fruit, enmeshed with fine, taut tannins. Stony finish. Garnacha, Samsó, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. - Wine Spectator

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97 Points! The 2019 Prado Enea Gran Reserva is their more traditional Rioja, a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano, mostly from Rioja Alta (Sajazarra, Cellorigo and Fonzaleche) at 550 to 700 meters in altitude, but the Garnacha is from different plots in the zone of Tudelilla at a high altitude. They didn't produce Prado Enea in 2017 or 2018, so this is the follow-up of the superb 2016. The bunches were harvested into 200-kilogram boxes, destemmed, put through optical sorting and fermented in small oak casks with indigenous yeasts. The élevage in barrel was extended to 36 months. The nose is phenomenal, keeping the essence of Muga with a touch of Garnacha perfume; it's still young and undeveloped for its age, not yet tertiary. The wine is full-bodied but fine-boned and has 14.7% alcohol, a pH of 3.46 and 5.81 grams per liter acidity. Still young, the wine has power and elegance and very good aging potential. 119,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2023. The next vintages will be 2021 and 2022, and after that perhaps 2025, but certainly no 2023 or 2024 wine. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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99 Points! The red 2023 Kalamity is stunning, in line with the wine produced in 2021. It's a wine first produced in 2014 from a field blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Viura and Garnacha Blanca from very old vines in Elvillar, Laguardia and Camprovín harvested relatively early to avoid excess alcohol and to keep the acidity. The grapes were part destemmed, part crushed and part fermented with full clusters in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts. The wine matured in 600-liter oak barrels for 10 months. Like most 2023s, it has contained ripeness and lowish alcohol, 13.5%, and a balanced pH of 3.5. Tartalo has been getting close, but I still believe this is the most complex, nuanced and complete of the reds here, perfumed and elegant. It's still young but already very harmonious, with a medium-bodied palate, super fine tannins and superb balance. This could very well be the finest Kalamity to date. It's approachable even at this young age, but it should also develop and get even better with time in bottle. 3,200 bottles were filled in September 2024. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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91 Points! A lively, seductive and salty white with aromas of fresh lemons, dried herbs and a hint of iodine. Medium-bodied with crisp acidity, it’s bright and full of verve, featuring a dry, driven and succulent finish. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

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97+ Points! The expressive, complex and nuanced 2016 Prado Enea Gran Reserva is a textbook traditional Rioja in the making. 2016 was a very elegant year, with aging potential, volume and very good acidity and freshness. It's full-bodied but fine-boned, has 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.6 and 5.25 grams per liter acidity. It has terrific balance, with all the components in the right proportion to age superbly in bottle. They have also been working on the selection of wood used. This wine matured in French and American oak barrels for three years, and the oak is super integrated. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

97 Points! Spiced red and black fruits, new saddle leather, smoky tobacco, and lead pencil are just some of the nuances in the 2016 Prado Enea Gran Reserva, a pure, medium to full-bodied, flawlessly balanced, beautifully textured Rioja from this team. With beautiful yet building tannins, a pure, focused style, and awesome length on the finish, it's a brilliant wine with a solid two decades of prime drinking ahead of it. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! Complex aromas of dark fruit with violets, walnuts and chocolate. Classy. It's full-bodied with plush yet fine velvety tannins, and a precise and pointed finish. Juicy and savory. Tight finish. It's very long. This is beautiful now but will be even better in three or four years. Linear and vertical at the same time. Try after 2026. - JamesSuckling.com

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91+ Points! The pale, fruit-driven and very young red 2022 Bozeto de Exopto is juicy and approachable, mixing 60% Garnacha with 35% Tempranillo and 5% Graciano. Fresh and dominated by the Garnacha, it is ripe without excess at 14.5% alcohol, reflecting the conditions of the year. Only the Tempranillo aged in oak vats, and the Garnacha was kept in concrete. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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91 Points! The 2019 La Cuvee sparkling wine was produced with a blend of 55% Xarel.lo, 35% Macabeo and 10% Parellada from 12 growers that work a total of 461 hectares of biodynamic vineyards certified by Demeter. Fifteen percent of the wine spent one year in 300-liter oak barrels and then refermented and aged with the lees in bottle for 40 months and is sold with five grams of residual sugar. 2019 reminded them of 2013 and 2009, possibly the last classical vintage in the zone in recent times. It has a more developed nose from the longer élevage and is ripe and with more autolysis of the lees and with a little more noticeable sugar in the finish. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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93 Points! Dark garnet in the glass, this wine has a nose of blackberry, dark chocolate and dried Mediterranean herbs. Black cherry and cassis flavors hit the tastebuds first and are followed up by notes of anise, Chambord and chocolate covered mint. Tannins slowly extend their influence on the palate, playing backup to a mélange of flavors that winds down to a soft finish marked with notes of cranberry and milk chocolate. - Wine Enthusiast

91 Points! Aromas of ripe, mellow berries, dried herbs, dried orange peel and cocoa. Medium-to full-bodied with fine tannins and bright acidity. Balanced and polished with hints of red fruit and dried flowers. Firm finish. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

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97 Points! The 2021 Anza Especial was produced with the idea to obtain a wine with aging potential while keeping the freshness and drinkability from early on. It was produced with the fruit from three old vines—Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha and Viura—fermented by plot in stainless steel and matured in used 500-liter oak barrels. It encapsulates the perfume, finesse and elegance that is present in the whole portfolio here with the aid of a very balanced 2021 vintage. It has notes of violets, red and black berry fruit, wild herbs and subtle spices. The palate has symmetry, elegance and precision, the tannins are extremely fine-bonded, and the flavors pure and precise and stay in your mouth for a long time after you swallow. Great juice. It should age effortlessly. 2,800 bottles produced. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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91 Points! A juicy and berry-oriented Rioja with a stony edge to the black cherries and plums. Firm, bright and pretty succulent on the palate with medium body. Well-balanced even though it is not complex. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

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91 Points! This year, the 2019 Sologarnacha Amphora Aging was produced with grapes from a vineyard planted in 2017. It's "only" 13.5% alcohol (most of the other wines are much higher in alcohol) and has a perfumed and floral nose, showing some lightness after a short maceration to keep the more ethereal part of the variety. The wine matured in a clay tinaja for five months. Only 295 bottles were filled in July 2020. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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92 Points! An excellent introduction to this extreme category. Intense caramelized-grapefruit character with plenty of toffee aroma. However, for a pedro ximénez, this has a certain lightness of touch and the sweetness is restrained. Long, raisiny but clean finish. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com Learn More