Spain

The Eguren family produces Protocolo, one of the world's best value wines, from vineyards in Manchuela, Rioja, and Toro. They lease vineyards on long term contracts from farmers in Manchuela who grow Tempranillo on the limestone rich soils at high altitudes in this southeastern corner of Spain. The oldest vineyards are 35 years old, grown sustainably, and dry farmed. These conditions reduce yields and result in incredibly balanced but fruit forward Tempranillo. The Eguren family also blends 10-15% of the wine with young estate grown vineyards in Rioja and Toro, which are planted with massal selections from the family's best estate grown plots. For the first 10-15 years of these vineyards' lives, they are used for Protocolo before they graduate into the estate wines of Rioja and Toro.

97+ Points! The super pale and subtle white 2022 El Jardín de las Iguales Macabeo is a wine that feels a lot younger than it is, undeveloped and young. It comes from the same vineyard, a centenary plot, and with the same process as in previous years, fermented and matured in a 1,000-liter oak foudre. It has a complex nose with notes of dry yellow flowers and pollen and a round palate with texture, chalky minerality and a very long finish. It is complete and complex, just a more tender than the 2021, which was more chiseled. This is a wine that really grows in bottle. It was a success to hold it for one year before releasing it, and that's why the vintage in the market is one year older than the red. 1,305 bottles produced, a good year for quality and quantity. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

96 Points! The white 2023 La Loma & Los Santos, containing some 60% Macabeo and 40% Garnacha Blanca, fermented in concrete and matured in 500- and 900-liter oak barrels, with some Macabeo in concrete egg, for 13 months. This has to be the finest vintage of this white; it's a year with more tension and is very expressive and nuanced, with notes of dry yellow flowers and pollen. It is finessed, beautifully textured and velvety, with volume, sapidity and electricity, and it is crunchy and citrusy, with a salty twist in the finish. This should age nicely in bottle. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

97+ Points! The 2023 Las Alas de Frontonio La Tejera is super serious, complete and harmonious, with power and elegance. It keeps the profile from the previous years, with similar parameters of alcohol and freshness. It's perfumed and nuanced, floral and citrusy, with faint spice and earthiness, serious and mineral. Th palate is seamless, precise and chiseled, symmetric and balanced, with super elegant tannins. This wine evolves very nicely in bottle. It is very precise. 2,082 bottles, 30 magnums and two double magnums produced. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

99 Points! The nose of the 2023 El Jardín de las Iguales Garnacha is stunning and made me go back to the glass over and over again, as it kept changing and unfurling new layers every few minutes. It's perfumed and elegant, spicy à la Vosne-Romanée from the south, with aromas of wild flowers, red fruit freshness, aromatic herbs, curry, celery and even white flowers. It is long, complex and balanced, with very fine-boned, chalky tannins. It has contained ripeness and 12.5% alcohol. Weightless but with structure, power with elegance, it is the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove. This is the most complete, most elegant and finest vintage of this wine since they started. It should develop beautifully in bottle and for a very long time. 1,399 bottles, 60 magnums and three double magnums produced. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

93 Points! The red 2024 Microcósmico Garnacha is a clear step up from the Botijo from this same year. It is more serious, with more tension and more elegant and polished tannins, a subtler and more harmonious wine with citrus and floral characteristics. It's still quite primary but has complexity, depth and a mineral feeling, the texture on the palate. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

93 Points! The youngest of the portfolio is the 2024 Louro, which has a balsamic, herbal and faintly medicinal nose (it does smell a little of bay leaf, which is what "louro" means in the Galician language!), quite aromatic. It fermented in 3,500-liter oak foudres, where the wine matured with the lees for four months. It doesn't lack ripeness; it comes in at 14% alcohol but retains good freshness and acidity. It's approachable and has a tender texture. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

93 Points! The 2024 Godello Louro do Bolo from Valdeorras is nuanced, with hay, anise, acacia and a hint of reduction layered over barrel influence. Dry and intense, it balances richness with vibrant acidity, enhancing the variety’s delicacy without losing intensity.- Joaquín Hidalgo, Vinous

93 Points! A second wine made to be more accessible, translating as the “blonde” of the village, 2024 Louro Do Bolo is an outstanding village Godello from parcels through all the region planted in sandy and granitic soils. Medium-bodied, it has tremendous complexity and sophistication alongside a purity of citrus-driven fruit and fennel, with supportive acidity and enduring freshness. Fermentation is in French oak foudres, followed by aging on the fine lees for additional months. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

93 Points! The nose is vibrant, revealing limes, grapefruit and a zesty, saline edge. The palate is linear and well composed, showing precision and freshness. Aged four months in stainless steel. From organically grown grapes. - JamesSuckling.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

95 Points! They adjusted the picking dates, and the 2022 Camino de Auritz sees a jump in freshness and elegance, finishing with a full 1% less alcohol than the 2021 (this has 13.5%). It's Garnacha from two old plots of 0.22 and 0.1 hectares on limestone soils at 450-plus meters above sea level, where they found some plants of Garnacha Gris. It fermented with 50% full clusters and indigenous yeasts (including malolactic) and matured in used French oak barrels for 11 months. This is a big jump in quality from the previous year. Unfortunately, there are only 874 bottles of this wine. It was bottled in August 2024. The wine is harmonious and approachable but should also age nicely in bottle. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

95 Points! The 2023 El Terroir is a village red from San Martín de Unx that was selected from six different vineyards that were harvested quite early, at the beginning of September. It fermented with full clusters, indigenous yeasts and a long maceration. It is slightly darker than La Dama, with more clout and some more tannins but all relative to La Dama, which is superlative, because outside that context, this would be super fragrant, elegant and subtle. It has container power, lots of energy and depth and a beautiful combination of wild berries, herbs and flowers. It has a fine-boned, medium-bodied palate and good balance. It has contained ripeness and around 13.5% alcohol. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

96 Points! Juicy, ripe, plummy fruit with a spicy wood touch and a hint of citrus. Assertive and fine-grained with medium to full body. Excellent tannins are nicely woven and integrated with the fruit. Long finish. La Hoya stands out in this challenging vintage. 95% tempranillo and 5% viura. Sand and silt soils on an east-facing slope. 3.3 hectares. From organically grown grapes. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The bottled version of the 2023 La Hoya feels quite serious and harmonious. It spent its first winter in 500- and 600-liter barrels and the second one in a 4,000-liter oak foudre. The nose is quite subtle and a little shy, with finesse. The top part of the plot is sandy, and the lower part has more silt; the combination gives the wine fruit and structure. It also has a lot of limestone and comes through as very balanced too. It's medium-bodied and really fine-boned. This is now showing much better than anticipated. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! The bottled 2023 PSI is faithful to the final blend I tasted last year before the wine was bottled. It's juicy, ripe and approachable, a little showier and headier, not quite reaching 14% alcohol but almost. This year, it has some 10% Garnacha in the bottled blend, some of it mixed with Tempranillo and some of it on its own. They are planting more Garnacha for the future. It feels like a very classical old-time Ribera del Duero wine, with elegant rusticity that I love. It's perfumed and floral with notes of decayed flowers. Twenty percent of the wine matured in barrels while the rest matured in oak vats, for some 14 months. The tannins are polished, and it feels like the time in bottle has done it good; the PSI tannins usually need time. They are resolved quite quickly, but the wine does need a bit of time. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

100% Garnacha from the Dama parcel planted in 1903 at 650m ASL in San Martín de Unx • fermented spontaneously in tank • raised for 36 months in neutral 500L and 600L French oak 

93 Points! The first vintage released by Rafael Perez when he took over the estate, this is 100% Garnacha fermented in stainless steel and then aged for 24 months in French barrels of different sizes. It is a very pretty and elegant red with lavender and mint aromas reminiscent of the surrounding forest of San Mart¡n de Unx. The palate is direct with vertical acidity but enough generosity and juicy wild strawberry fruit. A well crafted wine. - Tim Atkin, MW

93 Points! The 2020 Angelita del Challao comes from a blend of different vineyards in the three valleys from Labastida, looking for a village wine; it was produced with 85% Tempranillo and the rest Garnacha, Mazuelo, Viura, Garnacha Blanca and other rare varieties from their own vineyards and purchased grapes. It fermented in concrete with indigenous yeasts, 40% full clusters that are foot trodden and the rest uncrushed grapes and matured in 225- and 500-liter barrels and 2,000-liter foudres—10 months with each plot separate—and then it was blended and let to settle in concrete for another 10 months. They look for a more approachable wine than Challao, with more floral aromas in a very elegant and harmonious way. The palate is medium-bodied with medium ripeness, 13.5% alcohol and very good freshness and acidity, balanced and harmonious, very tasty and with elegant, refined tannins. Really very good. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

From the importer: What strikes many as an unusual blend is fairly common in Penedes – aromatic whites made from a mix of “northern” and indigenous varieties. In the case of Gessami, it is a blend of the native Muscat (both Frontignan 35%, and de Alexandria 15%, which are grown by Gramona) and the non-native but heat-tolerant Gewürztraminer 15%, and Sauvignon Blanc 35%. Over a third of the cuvée is Sauvignon Blanc, which provides a fresh herbal lift and vibrant acidity. To ensure a balanced wine, the grapes are picked just as they reach ripeness to ensure plenty of acidity to balance the 6g/L of residual sugar that is retained. Depending on the vintage, either one or both Muscat varieties are used in addition to a small proportion of Gewürztraminer to boost the aromatics. Such a floral and alluring wine is fittingly named Gessami, which in English means Jasmine.

96 Points, Vinous #7 Wine of the Year 2024! The 2021 PSI is 90% Tempranillo and 10% Garnacha sourced from old vines planted in calcareous soils and was aged for up to 16 months in mostly sizeable French oak barrels. In the glass, it's garnet-red with a light purple sheen. The nose offers blood notes along with sour cherry and blackberry, intertwined with violets and dried flowers, resulting in a layered, complex profile. On the palate, it's dry and velvety. Chalky tannins define a compact mouthfeel and long-lasting fruit and floral flavors. The 2021 is a distinctive Ribera del Duero with excellent nuance and agility. - Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous Media

95+ Points! The depth of the nose of the 2020 El Veneno already talks about a much better vintage with very complete and full wines that are floral, expressive and ripe but delicate, what they always look for: delicate wines with power, the proverbial iron fist in the velvet glove. It's varietal, Mediterranean, fresh, expressive, rich and complex, with abundant, chalky tannins that coat your mouth and give it a dry sensation, earthy and mineral. It has more of everything. The finest vintage of El Veneno to date. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

97 Points! I love the 2021 La Vizcaína La Vitoriana, where they use the westernmost part of the vineyard with more sand in the soils, mostly north facing. It's a wine with a floral nose that is aromatic and perfumed, elegant but with clout, with concentration and power. They have been picking earlier and earlier, lowering the alcohol, and they feel more comfortable below 13%; they removed the rusticity and extraction, and the wine is more elegant than ever. It reminds me of the 2018, with similar a profile of freshness. They produced around 5,000 liters from the one+ hectare they have here. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92 Points! The light red 2021 Follaco was produced with a blend of ancient Juan García (80- to 100-year-old vines) and young Tempranillo (15-year-old vines) from gravelly soils with quartz, granite and slate picked early (the wine is 11% alcohol). It matured in well-seasoned, seven- to 12-year-old French oak barrels for 10 months. It has a bright ruby color and a bright and expressive nose of red berries and flowers. It's clean, light, fresh and very pleasant with vibrant flavors of acid berries. A bargain. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! A harmonious red that marries power with finely detailed grace, offering a dense core of tannins tightly meshed with flavors of ripe black currant, fig cake, wild sage and mocha that slowly unfurl on the palate. Sleek and silky in texture, with a firm, lingering and well-spiced finish. Best from 2024 through 2032. - Wine Spectator