Spain

98 Points! One of the finest Valbuenas available, showcasing great depth, structure and detail while remaining polished. It exhibits notes of blackberries, cocoa powder, graphite, and high-quality sandalwood, with hints of lard and violets. The standout feature this year is the quantity and quality of the tannins—huge, yet incredibly refined and polished. There are plenty of fine grits that aren’t fully integrated but should harmonize in two to three years. Exceptionally long finish. Will hold effortlessly for the next 20 years. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! The 2021 Valbuena comes from a year with pristine grapes, good ripeness and balance, for them one of their finest years when they didn't have to rush and everything happened in a smooth way. The year was marked by the snowstorm Filomena in January, which provided good water reserves, and the rest of the winter had temperatures reaching -15 degrees Celsius! This was a blend of 96% Tinto Fino (a.k.a. Tempranillo) and 4% Merlot aged in barrels and 8,500- and 21,000-liter oak vats during the first year and later only in oak vats. This is the youngest expression of the "Vega" nose, subtler and elegant, more insinuating, less developed and keeping some primary notes, not as tertiary as the Únicos. It comes in at 14% alcohol, with a pH of 3.85 and 4.65 grams of acidity, and it has a medium- to full-bodied palate, with elegant tannins and very good balance. This is one of the finest recent vintages for Valbuena, and in a way, it reminded me of the 2010, with elegance and precision. - 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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98 Points! The more delicate, ethereal and fine 2023 La Dama has a paler color and is fragrant and subtle, with a sense of fragility and delicacy like no vintage before. The grapes from the lower part of the main vineyard, called Lupier, where you find less slate (but still slate), were picked in early September and were vinified with 100% full clusters and a long maceration. The higher part was vinified separately and might be released as a new single-vineyard wine; but there are only a couple of barrels of it, and they have not yet decided what to do. The alcohol level is contained, at around 13.5%. It's precise, clean and focused and has purity of aromas and flavors, a delicate texture, super fine tannins, balance and lots of energy. The two wines are now more different than ever. It's really stunning, bravo! - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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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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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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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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98 Points!  The NV Pedro Ximenez Solera 1927 is non-vintage, but does have some 1927 material in it. This is totally dark brown/amber with notes of figs, toffee, caramel syrup, molasses and coffee. It is dense, super sweet, intense, rich and an amazingly, unctuously textured, thick beverage to consume slowly and introspectively after a meal. Drink now through 2050, or even longer. -  Robert Parker, eRobertParker.com, November 2015

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90 Points! Oregano and tobacco front the nose with savoury expressiveness, led by blood orange, Earl Grey and bergamot. There's firm, herbal grip from strong, round tannins. Subtle florality adds elegant top notes to the otherwise intense, dark core. A great-value wine, perfect for more than everyday drinking. - Decanter Magazine

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90 Points! The entry-level 2023 Laya, produced with 70% Garnacha Tintorera and 30% Monastrell from dry-farmed 30-year-old vines on limestone and stony soils fermented in open-top stainless steel vats. It fermented with neutral yeasts and matured for four months in used French oak barrels, where it also underwent malolactic fermentation. It is fruit-driven and easy to drink, juicy, with 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.79 and 5.6 grams of acidity. It has a very dark color and an expressive nose redolent of black olives and tomato vine, notes descriptive of the variety, with a Northern Rhône whiff. It's juicy and round on the palate, with polished tannins. It delivers way above its price point. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.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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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