Spain

94 Points! There's also a village red from Labastida, of which I tasted two vintages. The 2021 Viñedos en Labastida is a blend of different plots with some 85% Tempranillo, 10% Garnacha and 5% white grapes fermented with indigenous yeasts and some whole clusters in search of balance and elegance. The wine matured in 500- and 600-liter oak foudres in their cold cave. This was my favorite of the village reds, with a perfumed and elegant nose, complex, deep and nuanced. It's serious, harmonious and with very fine tannins. It has medium ripeness and good balance. 3,600 bottles were filled in September 2022. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! I love the pale, floral and delicate 2021 Kauten. This wine is the reason they started in the zone of Olite. The wine is elegant and ethereal. They do a soft extraction and only use half of the skins for the fermentation (50% of the clusters were pressed directly and the juice put in the fermentation vessel). They were worried because it's from a 20-year-old vineyard and they didn't want to extract much. They age it in used barrels for five months. The wine has 13.5%, and it's very approachable and expressive, with notes of sous bois, a vibrant palate and great freshness. Amazing wine and superb value. This is expressive, pure, deep and very satisfying. It should also age well. 1,246 bottles were filled in August 2022. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! Dense and broad Viñas de Gain with impressive concentration and compact tannins that give gravity to the palate, showing fine rust to the fresh blackberries, iodine and fresh violets. I love the power here with the fine-grained, chocolaty tannins. Long and nicely chewy. Tempranillo. From organically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but better from 2024. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! The young red 2020 Viñas de Gaín was produced with Tempranillo grapes from different vineyards in Laguardia and Elvillar at 450 to 700 meters in altitude. It fermented in oak and stainless steel vats followed by malolactic in barrel and an élevage in barrel for eight months. This is a blend from some 20 vineyards at various altitudes, keeping the older ones to produce a wine that has complexity and depth, the expression of Tempranillo in Laguardia and Elvillar. It is approachable and pleasant but with complexity and depth. It has ripeness and richness without excess. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! There is a change in the 2022 La Bruja. It is no longer a village wine from Rozas de Puerto Real. In 2022, it is a regional wine, and in 2023, it also will be a regional wine but from Ávila, from the Cebreros appellation, as they are focusing their work there. It's a juicy and aromatic Garnacha, very much in the Comando G style, with good ripeness, 14% alcohol and more in the style of the 2020. It has a medium-bodied palate and a sapid finish with contained ripeness and fine granite granularity. They macerated less to adapt to the vintage, and it partly fermented with less skins. It's a more approachable La Bruja, expressive, open and more fruit-driven, more in a Morgon style. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

93+ Points! The very recently bottled 2021 Terra de Cuques Blanc was produced with 90% Pedro Ximénez and 10% Muscat with a moderate 13% alcohol, the minimum required by the appellation. It's serious, with good freshness, a little reductive at first but then more expressive with abundant notes of pollen and a honeyed touch, with a little skin contact that gives it character and some notes of quince and fine tannins. There's finesse and elegance and it's very clean. They have food in mind when they do the wines, so there is a constant search for freshness. There is a good demand for whites, and they sell everything, but the planting of white vineyards is limited. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! Subtle green spice and cement to the squeezed lemon and grapefruit, with a hint of nori-like umami. Dry, creamy and sleek, with medium to full body and lovely texture to the neutral fruit, though not lacking in substance. Very contained. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

90 Points! A round and fresh garnacha blanca here with some subtle peaches, green apples and mineral characters. Fresh acidity brightens it up on the medium-bodied palate with a fruity finish. From organically grown grapes. Vegan. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! The white 2021 Trenzado comes from eight different vineyards in the Orotava Valley, mostly from the village of Los Realejos where the basalt soils are quite shallow. It fermented in oak foudres of different sizes and 500-liter oak barrels, where it matured for 11 months. It has 12.9% alcohol with a low pH (3.04) and high acidity (6.35 grams) for the variety. The wine has settled in bottle, where it seems to gain weight. The year was a little cooler, and the wine is fresher. It has notes of toasted sesame seeds. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94+ Points! The 2021 Anza wants to show the typicity of Laguardia and Elvillar with freshness, precision and no makeup. It's a blend of grapes—Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano, Malvasía, Calagraño, Viura and Moscatel—from different vineyards that were fermented by plot with some full clusters and a significant amount of white grapes. It matured in 500-liter barrels and oak vats of different sizes. It has 13.5% alcohol and a little more depth and clout compared with the 2022, and it's fine-boned and has very elegant tannins. Precision, my friends. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

From Finca Aeiroá (1939) – O Barco de Valdeorras – Pure slate soils intermixed with broken quartz, northern orientation – three field blend parcels planted adjacent to each other, primarily Godello with intermixed planting of indigenous red varieties. Northern orientation.

90 Points! The 2021 Laya was produced with 70% Garnacha Tintorera and 30% Monastrell, looking for a fruit-driven and easy to drink red with 14.5% alcohol, ripe fruit and a soft texture. 2021 was warmer than the average but with some cold spells, especially the one in January called Filomena that brought lots of snow, despite which, it was also a dry year and they got up to 40% less grapes. This fermented in stainless steel vats with neutral yeasts, with malolactic in barrel, where the wine matured for four months. This shows some toasty oak, but it might be because it's too young and very recently bottled. But vintages seem to take oak differently; they believe this will show as integrated as the 2020. Time will tell. In any case, it's a wine for the short term, and it's very good for what it is. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! The 2019 Reserva, sold as Crianza in Spain, comes from a dry and warm year with low yields and concentrated wines. The grapes from the Haro zone, the four from Rioja, Tempranillo, Garnacha Tinta, Mazuelo and Graciano fermented destemmed and lightly crushed in oak vats with indigenous yeasts, and 80% of the volume matured in French oak and the rest in Centro European and American oak, 20% of them new, for 22 months, during which time the wine was racked every eight to nine months. This is serious and young but balanced, nuanced and complex. They are shortening the time in oak, as they feel they have better and younger barrels and think the wines need less time in oak and more time in bottle. This is very Muga, very Rioja and very good. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! The 2019 San Vicente was produced with Tempranillo Peludo, a special strain of Tempranillo planted from a massale selection in 1985 in the village of San Vicente de la Sonsierra. Like all their reds (except the carbonic maceration ones), the destemmed grapes fermented in French oak vats, and the wine matured in new oak barrels (90% French, 10% American) for 20 months. This wine is quite regular, and I found similar wines in 2019 and 2018, the two vintages that I tasted together, combining power and elegance and juicy fruit with good ripeness but without excess and good acidity and balance and fine-grained tannins. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

90 Points! Vivid ruby red.A complex, pungent bouquet evokes ripe dark berries cherry pit, licorice, and smoked meat and a peppery nuance adds spicy lift. Gently sweet and penetrating on the palate, offering fresh cassis, cherry cola, and chewing tobacco flavors that slowly spread out on the back half. Finishes long and smooth, with sneaky tannins and a late snap of spiciness. - Josh Raynolds, Vinous Media

90 Points! A silky and pretty red with dark-berry, chocolate and spice character. Medium body, integrated tannins and a fresh, tangy finish. Good acidity at the end. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! The 2022 Cíes is a faithful reflection of the warmer year with rounder wines and more integrated acidity. It's tender and balanced, with a silky texture and a clean finish. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! Making the most of what Agustín Santolaya considers the best vintage since 2001, the regular Roda release marries Tempranillo with 5% Graciano and 4% Garnacha from the Rioja Alta and Oriental sub-regions. Full-bodied but not overpoweringly so, this is layered and well structured, with scented 40% new wood, serious dark berry fruit and a balsamic lift. Modern yet traditional at the same time. - Tim Atkin

93 Points! Fruity and primary with rich black cherries, red plums and damsons, adorned by some coffee, black pepper and chocolate. A pretty modern, juicy expression of Rioja with a medium to full body, rounded by assertive and fine-grained tannins. Long, with some dark chocolate in the finish. Drink from 2023. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! A traditional beauty that effuses iron, warm earth and savory tobacco leaves, together with plums, spices and orange zest. This is juicy and still tight, with firm but savory tannins. Medium-weight and quite zesty in texture, as is the case with the other López de Heredia reds tasted this session. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! The 2011 Viña Tondonia Reserva is darker and shows riper fruit, a rounder palate and some dusty tannins. A year of ripeness, concentration and tannin, the wine is powerful with the finesse of Tondonia. Tasting this next to the textbook 2010 Tondonia revealed how this has more muscle and a wider back and the 2010 epitomizes the finesse and elegance. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! The estate red 2015 Reserva was produced with Tempranillo, Garnacha and Graciano from their 86 hectares of vineyards. It's from an early harvest after a warm and dry year that achieved perfect ripeness with some rain at the end of the cycle. It fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel and oak vats and matured in barrel for 21 months. It combines youth with development, power with elegance and comes through as clean and defined, with a medium to full-bodied palate, focused flavors and a dry but lively finish. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! There is a new and impressive red 2020 Barrio Pastores, a village wine produced with old Garnacha grafted on Rupestris du Lot roots. It is perfumed and floral with moderate alcohol (13.8%) and with a medium-bodied palate with very fine tannins and a dry, austere finish. It has impressive freshness and a pH of 3.2 with 6.5 grams of acidity. The production tried to replicate the wines from yesteryear, and they achieved a clean, fine, soft, perfumed and happy red through foot-trodden grapes and maturing in large oak vats for 10 months. Superb debut. 2,000 bottles were filled in August 2021. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

95 Points! The 2018 Clos Figueres follows the path of cleanliness and precision of the 2017 in a better vintage. It's Garnacha and Cariñena from old vines with Cabernet sauvignon, Syrah and Monastrell, which seems to be a Mediterranean grape that is coming out of the closet in Priorat. It fermented and matured in new and second use 300- and 500-liter French oak barrels for 14 to 16 months. It's powerful and ripe at 15% alcohol, but with a low pH and good freshness. It's nuanced and complex and has elegance and some floral notes, with a more developed nose compared to the younger 2019 and 2020 tasted next to it. This has to be one of the finest vintages of Clos Figueres ever. 5,150 bottles were filled in February 2020. - Luis Gutierrez, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

94 Points! Aromas of dark plums, lavender, dried thyme, cloves, black olives and chocolate. It’s full-bodied with fine tannins and fresh acidity. Supple and velvety. Sweet spices and chocolate on the long, elegant finish. Try from 2022. - James Suckling