Spain

95 Points! The 2022 vintage of Murrieta’s Reserva continues on its path to elegance with this blend of 85% Tempranillo 7% Mazuelo, 6% Graciano and 2% Garnacha. American oak adds polish, effortlessly enveloping rose petal, damson and red cherries, and lending just the faintest hint of chocolate. It's fine, precise and, despite many years of development to come, it's immediately approachable. A wine evolving with the times and, quite rightly, one of the flagships of the region. - Decanter Magazine

94+ Points! The flagship white-label Reserva-style red 2022 Marqués de Murrieta wants to showcase the personality of the estate through blending places and grapes. In the 2022 vintage, it's 85% Tempranillo, 7% Mazuelo, 6% Graciano and 2% Garnacha. In the warmer and drier year, with two important heat waves that hurried things up, the grapes were hand-harvested between the 7th and 23rd of September, quite early, and they fermented separately in stainless steel. The wine matured in 225-liter American oak barrels for 25 months. Tasting with Vicente Cebrián, he told me he likes 2022 better than 2023 and 2024, which surprised me (let's see what he tells me next year...). It was a gourmand year, with rounder and glossier wines and with more volume, hedonistic and full. The wine is surprisingly balanced and elegant and doesn't show any excesses; the higher percentages of Mazuelo and Graciano provided the extra freshness needed but also had to age for longer in wood, but the oak is perfectly integrated, and the wine is clean and focused. It has contained ripeness and 14% alcohol, keeping a pH of 3.65 and 5.1 grams of acidity. It's a triumph over the adverse conditions of the year. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! Aromas of plums, cherries and touches of cedar and dried flowers. Medium- to full-bodied with polished tannins that are well integrated, supporting red and dark fruit flavors and subtle cedar notes. A well-crafted red. Precise, with impeccable balance and a savory touch. Tempranillo with around 7% mazuelo and 6% graciano. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

91 Points! The young entry-level 2024 Laya was produced with 70% Garnacha Tintorera and 30% Monastrell from dry-farmed 30-year-old vines on limestone and stony soils. It fermented in 20,000-liter open-top stainless steel vats with neutral yeasts and matured for four months in used French oak barrels, where it also underwent malolactic. It's heady, with notes of very ripe dark berries and is young and primary, fruit-driven, easy to drink and juicy, with velvety tannins, 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.76 and 5.4 grams of acidity. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

91 Points! A ripe nose of blackberries, dark cherries, dried violets, potpourri and sweet spices. Full-bodied with powdery tannins. Textured and creamy. Supple, chocolatey finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

90 Points! The ripe and juicy 2019 Casar Mencía has a fruit-driven nose with notes of ripe berries and some flowers. It's at the higher end of ripeness on the Mencía spectrum and has 14.5% alcohol. It matured in 500- and 700-liter oak barrels for one year. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92 Points! Aromas of creamy oak, vanilla, pine cones citrus and plums. A touch of sweet tobacco as well. Classic Rioja reserva style, with fresh acidity on the medium-bodied palate and nicely chewy tannins from the wood. Fluid, firm and quite long. Drink from 2025. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Citrus aromatics with a touch of almond and an herbal note. Chiseled, saline and linear, with a clear sense of structure and integrated texture. Very cohesive and well crafted. From a combination of Rioja Alta and Rioja Oriental, with most coming from Cárdenas, including around 30% garnacha blanca. Fermented and aged in a combination of foudre and concrete. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points!  In spite of the massive tarte-tatin character in the nose, this is mouth-filling but bone dry and powerful with a rather silky finish for a dry Oloroso (which tends to bitterness and austerity). Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

91 Points! The bottled 2024 Camins del Priorat is a regional blend produced with a slightly different blend each year, depending on the character of the year. In the less warm 2024, the blend was 40% Garnacha, 20% Cariñena, 20% Syrah (much higher in Syrah), 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot (lower in the Bordeaux varieties), and the rest is a blend of Garnacha Blanca, Picapoll Blanc and Pedro Ximenez from 90 plots in nine villages from Priorat. The idea is to remove the French varieties in 2026. It fermented with part of full clusters and indigenous yeasts in stainless steel, oak and concrete, with 28 days of maceration, and matured in barriques and oak vats for eight months. It has a nose of ripe berry fruit, herbs and spices, with hints of honey and pollen. It develops notes of balsamic and dry hay with time in the glass. This is a little more international; it's the least Priorat of the portfolio. It has 14.1% alcohol, a pH of 3.52 and 5.12 grams of acidity. It's juicy and velvety, with very fine tannins and a sleek texture. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

96 Points! The 2019 Vina Ardanza is a highly impressive, full-bodied blend of 80% older-vine Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha from two different parts of Rioja grown at the same altitude. The producer’s own American oak was used to age the Tempranillo 36 months and the Garnacha 30 months, 20% new. The fruity nose of black cherry and plum complements beautifully against Garnacha’s seductively spicy texture and mouthfeel. It’s lively, complex, and lengthy, with melty tannins. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

94 Points! No 2018 was produced, so after the 2017 I tasted last year, we jumped to the 2019 Viña Ardanza Reserva, produced with a blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha. It fermented destemmed in stainless steel and aged in American oak barrels, 36 months for the Tempranillo and 30 months for Garnacha, and was blended before bottling. 2019 is a very good year for them, a small crop of powerful and concentrated wines when they produced all their brands, an exception. This is spicy, structured, balanced and powerful in this warm year, reaching the customary 14.5% alcohol and keeping a pH of 3.54 and 5.5 grams of acidity. It's still very young and undeveloped, with the classical profile, generous in American oak aromas and flavors that should slowly integrate in the wine with years in bottle. For them, 2019 means a change in Ardanza, less spicy (but still quite spicy, with clove, vanilla and tobacco leaves) and with more fresh fruit from the Garnacha. But the year is a modern version of 2015. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

96 Points! Dark cherries, nervy energy and a gentle floral note on the nose. The medium-bodied palate shows tension and an elegant expression of fruit—subtle yet tasty—framed by fine-grained tannins. Savory and delicious. From an extremely old vineyard rooted in deep clay soils in the village of Valtuille de Abajo. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The 2023 Las Gundiñas Lomas de Valtuille combines Mencía, Trousseau and up to 10% Doña Blanca from a centenary vineyard. It fermented with 100% whole clusters and aged for up to 11 months in barrel. This opens with appealing herbal aromas of sour cherry, a distant hint of violet and a touch of rosehip. The palate is firm and structured, with broad flavor intensity. The fresh vintage aligns well with the style and the whole-cluster character leaves a compact, slightly austere finish that promises to improve in bottle. - Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous

94 Points! The 2022 Hacienda Monasterio is a blend of 86% Tinto Fino, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Malbec. They only got 170 liters of rain and suffered five heat waves—what happens in Ribera is accentuated at the Monasterio estate—but they were able to manage it quite well. Since 2018, they have been harvesting earlier, in early September, because they have managed to achieve ripeness a little earlier, and it shows in the wine, which has 14.5% alcohol on the label (perhaps a little lower in the real analysis, but they need to round up to half a degree on the labels). The skins were thick, so the vinification was softer to avoid too much extraction. They also did a longer aging in barrel; it's usually 15 to 17 months, depending on the lot, but this year, the average was 17 months and it helped. In contrast, they did a shorter élevage in 2023, because it was what the wine called for. The nose is harmonious and shows no heat or excess ripeness (or oak), and the palate is silky with surprisingly ripe and round tannins, escaping the excess grip I found in many 2022s in the zone. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

95 Points! Very pale in colour yet surprisingly concentrated for a wine of such light hue, delivering lots of delicate red berries and an ample palate with plenty of fleshy fruit and texture. The 100% Garnacha fruit is sourced from 70- to 90-year-old vines on several plots at 600m-750m. Only half of the free-run must is used, fermented plot by plot in small oak vats, with the wine remaining on its lees for at least four months before a final selection and blend is made. Wonderfully elegant with stony minerality, this is seamless, fruity and refined, with a very moreish finish. A really clear definition of the region. - Decanter Magazine

94 Points! The top rosé is also extremely young. The 2025 Flor de Muga Rosado was produced with the direct pressing of Garnacha grapes from the Najerilla and Oja valleys, grapes that usually ripen but keep a pale red color and are not suitable for red wines. It fermented in small oak vats, where it was kept with fine lees and bâtonnage for four months. This is even paler and certainly subtler, more elegant and complex than the regular rosé. It comes in at a lower 13.5% alcohol, keeping very good freshness, reflected by a pH of 3.27 and 6.2 grams of acidity. It's balanced and subtle, really elegant and more delicate, with more freshness. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! The flagship of the estate, the 2021 Tinto is based on 85% Tempranillo, 13% Graciano, and 2% Garnacha. It has a gorgeous nose of cassis and darker berries interwoven with subtle spice, graphite, and leather. This carries to a medium to full-bodied, round, concentrated wine with beautiful tannins, a layered, seamless mouthfeel, and a great finish. I'd buy it. It should have two decades or more of overall longevity. - Virginie Boone, JebDunnuck.com

93 Points! Aromas of dark berries, plums, graphite and herbs. Concentrated and structured with a core of dark fruit supported by a compact, focused finish. Precise, firm tannins add definition and longevity, making this a wine built for aging. - JamesSuckling.com

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

94+ Points! The red 2018 Viña Cubillo Tinto Crianza is pretty and attractive, fresh and aromatic, floral, the result of a challenging year with lots of rain and high humidity. This is usually the last vineyard to be harvested, and the grapes were picked late, the 26th of October. It's a blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho and 5% each Graciano and Mazuelo that matured in a combination of oak vats and well-seasoned American oak barrels for six years. It's elegant and clean, young and undeveloped, with very fine tannins and a sleek, polished mouthfeel. It has 13.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.0 and 6.5 grams of acidity. This could be the finest Cubillo in recent times, and it's a bargain. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! A tight, structured Rioja with blackcurrants, sandalwood, coffee and cassis on the nose, followed by a chewy, toasty and medium- to full-bodied palate. Firm, dusty tannins. Compact. Better after 2026. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Beautiful nose with lifted herbal notes hovering over the lush black and blue fruit. Tannins are fresh and well presented lending fluidity to the fruit. The mineral backbone as further support to the framework. An alluring, long finish of zesty citrus married with herbal intensity (oregano and thyme). - Decanter Magazine

93 Points! The 2020 Imperial Reserva was produced with a blend of Tempranillo and 15% Graciano, Mazuelo and Garnacha grapes that were put through optical sorting and fermented in oak vats by vineyard, and the wine matured for 24 months in barrels, 70% French and the rest American. It has a shy nose that takes time to open up in the glass, but it is surprisingly harmonious and balanced and fresh for the year. It has a little more ripeness, but there's no excess at all; it has 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.65 and 5.44 grams of acidity. It has notes of spices, cigar box and ash, berries and wild herbs and a sleek and polished palate with resolved tannins.  - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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

94 Points! The only white produced here is the 2020 Viñas de Gaín Blanco, which is balsamic and aromatic, floral and herbaceous, from a fresher and more elegant vintage. It fermented with some skins to give it complexity and volume, but he has reduced the time the wine is in contact with the skins, and this year, the wine finished part of the fermentation in used 600-liter demi-muids and was kept in stainless steel with lees for two years. They have stopped racking the white, and they feel it keeps a livelier character. It has the profile of the traditional Rioja whites with a modern twist, cleaner, more focused and precise. It has a moderate 13% alcohol, a pH of 3.31 and 6.05 grams of sugar, fresh and vibrant. It's beautiful, possibly the best year for the white and a year they think was better for the white than for the reds. Bravo! - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94+ Points! The very young and pale white 2024 Txuria has a serious and stony nose. It was produced with grapes from small dry-farmed plots in different locations—Dicastillo (490 meters above sea level) and Andosilla (395 meters above sea level) in Navarra and Ábalos (550 meters above sea level) in Rioja—on sandy and silty soils with clay and limestone. It fermented in stainless steel without malolactic and was kept with the lees, 50% in stainless steel and the rest in used 400-liter French oak barrels. It has great purity, elegance, focus, clarity and balance. It comes in at a moderate 12.5% alcohol, with surprising freshness (pH 3.09) and high acidity (6.7 grams). This is stunning...- Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com