Spain
Valenciso Rioja Rosé 2022
"The not-so-pale rosé 2022 Rosa was produced with Tempranillo and aged in tank with lees for eight months. It has a bright pink color and is not a light wine, at 14% alcohol. It shows ripeness and is quite powerful for a rosé. 5,000 bottles were filled in May 2023." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Valenciso Rioja Reserva Red 2016
"The balanced, young and elegant 2016 Reserva mixes characteristics from classical and more modern Rioja reds, fruit and herbs, spicy oak and some complexity and a medium-bodied palate with very good freshness and fine tannins. It's riper than you think at 14.5% alcohol and has a pH of 3.7. It fermented in concrete and matured in French barrels for 18 months. 100,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in autumn 2020." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
San Román Bodegas San Román 2020
"The 2020 San Román had a slightly shorter élevage than the 2019 I tasted next to it. These are wines of very good regularity, showing a ripe and generously oaked profile, ripe, lush and powerful, perhaps a tad lighter and fresher in 2020. 115,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2022." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Bodegas y Viñedos Alión 2019
"The 2019 Alión was cropped from a drier vintage compared with the average, and the wines from that year tend to be powerful, concentrated and with structure. They shortened the maceration by 11 days and used concrete for part of the élevage, trying to reduce the impact from the oak in the wine. They define 2019 as a powerful, concentrated and juicy vintage, sensual and unctuous. The wine is ripe at 15% alcohol and has mellow acidity (4.4 grams) and a pH of 3.88, reflecting the warm and dry year that delivered powerful and concentrated wines, similar to the wines from 2015. It's quite fruit-driven, ripe and juicy, with abundant, slightly dusty tannins despite the limited pumping over they did to avoid extracting too much, and the maceration was also shortened. 256,526 bottles, 7,005 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in June 2021." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Bodegas y Viñedos Pintia 2018 – 3L
"The 2018 Pintia comes from a cooler and wetter vintage when the grapes were picked between September 20th and October 7th, and it fermented in their new fermentation room where they feel they can be more precise. The wine still has 15% alcohol, with a pH of 3.82 and 4.6 grams of acidity. It had a shorter élevage this year and matured for 10 months in French and 18% American oak barrels, 81% of them new. The nose is very expressive, with bright cherry fruit, and the wine is fresher than the norm in the region, with integrated alcohol and oak, reflecting a very cool year, floral and perfumed. The palate is medium-bodied and reveals very fine and elegant tannins. This has to be one of the finest vintages of Pintia. 251,512 bottles, 14,144 half-bottles, 6,543 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in April 2020." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Bodegas y Viñedos Pintia 2018
"The 2018 Pintia comes from a cooler and wetter vintage when the grapes were picked between September 20th and October 7th, and it fermented in their new fermentation room where they feel they can be more precise. The wine still has 15% alcohol, with a pH of 3.82 and 4.6 grams of acidity. It had a shorter élevage this year and matured for 10 months in French and 18% American oak barrels, 81% of them new. The nose is very expressive, with bright cherry fruit, and the wine is fresher than the norm in the region, with integrated alcohol and oak, reflecting a very cool year, floral and perfumed. The palate is medium-bodied and reveals very fine and elegant tannins. This has to be one of the finest vintages of Pintia. 251,512 bottles, 14,144 half-bottles, 6,543 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in April 2020." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Bodegas Vega Sicilia Valbuena 5˚ 2018 – 3L
"The 2018 Valbuena comes from a cooler vintage with good yields that required sorting and selecting in search of a happy and vertical version of Valbuena, pushing a little more and giving the wine a little more oak, especially American (5%). It was produced with 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Merlot that went through a three- to four-day cold soak and fermented with indigenous yeasts followed by malolactic in stainless steel. The élevage was in new and used 225-liter oak barrels and 21,000-liter oak vats. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.8 and 4.78 grams of acidity (tartaric), so it's ripe and with mellow acidity that gives it a mellow mouthfeel. This is a very spicy vintage for Valbuena, getting closer to the style of Único (while at the same time I felt the 2018 Pintia from Toro was getting closer to the aromatics of some vintages of Valbuena, like 2010). It was a late-ripening year with a tendency toward freshness in the wines. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with very fine tannins that made the wine nicely textured and very elegant. There is a lot of regularity in the Valbuena of the last few years, here with more tension and freshness of the 2017, a little more balsamic even. 180,580 bottles, 5,528 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in May 2021." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Bodegas Vega Sicilia Valbuena 5˚ 2018 Magnum
"The 2018 Valbuena comes from a cooler vintage with good yields that required sorting and selecting in search of a happy and vertical version of Valbuena, pushing a little more and giving the wine a little more oak, especially American (5%). It was produced with 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Merlot that went through a three- to four-day cold soak and fermented with indigenous yeasts followed by malolactic in stainless steel. The élevage was in new and used 225-liter oak barrels and 21,000-liter oak vats. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.8 and 4.78 grams of acidity (tartaric), so it's ripe and with mellow acidity that gives it a mellow mouthfeel. This is a very spicy vintage for Valbuena, getting closer to the style of Único (while at the same time I felt the 2018 Pintia from Toro was getting closer to the aromatics of some vintages of Valbuena, like 2010). It was a late-ripening year with a tendency toward freshness in the wines. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with very fine tannins that made the wine nicely textured and very elegant. There is a lot of regularity in the Valbuena of the last few years, here with more tension and freshness of the 2017, a little more balsamic even. 180,580 bottles, 5,528 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in May 2021." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Vega-Sicilia Valbuena 5˚ Cosecha 2018
"The 2018 Valbuena comes from a cooler vintage with good yields that required sorting and selecting in search of a happy and vertical version of Valbuena, pushing a little more and giving the wine a little more oak, especially American (5%). It was produced with 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Merlot that went through a three- to four-day cold soak and fermented with indigenous yeasts followed by malolactic in stainless steel. The élevage was in new and used 225-liter oak barrels and 21,000-liter oak vats. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.8 and 4.78 grams of acidity (tartaric), so it's ripe and with mellow acidity that gives it a mellow mouthfeel. This is a very spicy vintage for Valbuena, getting closer to the style of Único (while at the same time I felt the 2018 Pintia from Toro was getting closer to the aromatics of some vintages of Valbuena, like 2010). It was a late-ripening year with a tendency toward freshness in the wines. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with very fine tannins that made the wine nicely textured and very elegant. There is a lot of regularity in the Valbuena of the last few years, here with more tension and freshness of the 2017, a little more balsamic even. 180,580 bottles, 5,528 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in May 2021." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild & Vega Sicilia Rioja Macán Clásico 2019
"The second wine in the Bordeaux sense is the 2019 Macán Clásico, a more concentrated and powerful wine cropped from a warmer and drier year that was saved by the 80 liters of rain in the first half of September. It fermented in stainless steel with 10% of their own yeasts, and the élevage was 22% in stainless steel and the rest in new and used oak barrels, mostly French but with around 5% of them American, and lasted 12 months. It has a moderate 14% alcohol, mellow acidity and good freshness and balance. 2019 was a dry and warm year when they did a soft vinification to avoid harsh tannins. The nose is ripe without excess, and the oak is neatly integrated. The palate is juicy and round, with fine tannins and a velvety texture." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild & Vega Sicilia Macán 2018
"Their second wine in the Bordeaux sense is the 2018 Macán Clásico, which in the cooler and late year (they picked between October 2nd and 14th) fermented in stainless steel and matured in 50% new French oak barrels, 10% American oak barrels and 40% used ones for 12 months. The wine has moderate ripeness and alcohol (14%) in a fresher, subtler and more elegant year with good freshness (a pH of 3.75) and balance. It's young and creamy, a baby that will improve as it burns down that fat. Separating the press wine by quality and aging it separately seems to have increased the precision. It has to be one of the finest vintages for this wine; it is round and nicely textured. It could be an improved version of the 2016. 151,411 bottles, 1,053 magnums and some larger formats were filled during August 2020. - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Garmón Continental 2020
"The 2020 Garmón is a 100% Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero, aged for 20 months in primarily French oak barrels. Purple with a garnet sheen. The fruit-forward nose offers dried plum, blackcurrant and aniseed-like herbs intertwined with oak layers. Dry and plush from the oak, the wine's chalky texture grows more pronounced as it goes on, foregrounding a restrained but juicy, polished, lingering finish. The 2020 is a balanced, modern expression of Ribera del Duero." - Joaquín Hidalgo, Vinous
Valenciso Rioja Reserva Red 2018 Magnum
"The 2018 Reserva reveals developed aromas and a polished palate, tasty, almost salty flavors and a long, dry finish. It has notes of leather and meat and felt surprisingly ripe despite the cooler year, but the longer and slow growing season ripened the grapes thoroughly to 14.5% alcohol. It matured in French oak barrels, one-third of them new, for 18 months. It was bottled in December 2021. 67,000 bottles produced." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Bodegas Mauro Godello 2021
"Their one white comes from Bierzo (mainly Villafranca del Bierzo), and the 2021 Godello was cropped from an Atlantic, cooler vintage with moderate temperatures and enough rain throughout the growing season. The grapes went through a 12-hour cold soak, and the juice then fermented in new and used 500-liter French oak barrels where the wine matured with the lees for 10 months before it was bottled. It has 13% alcohol and a pH of 3.1 denoting very good freshness. It has ripeness but without excess, with varietal notes of yellow fruit, flowers and a touch of pollen, smoke and spices. It has a round palate with clarity and definition, long, tasty and with a dry and varietal finish with a note of quince. 12,628 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2022." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Bodegas Mauro VS 2020
Vega-Sicilia “Valbuena 5˚” Cosecha 2014 3L
"The 2014 Valbuena, mostly Tempranillo with some 5% Merlot fermented by plot, making a selection from their 210 hectares of vineyards, and then matured in a combination of barriques and larger 20,000-liter oak vats. 2014 is a spectacular vintage of Valbuena, and it reminds me of the 2010, perhaps a tad more elegant and less powerful. It's expressive and has floral notes on the nose along with wild berries, herbs and a spicy and smoky touch that's nicely integrated. It has good complexity and nuance, and the palate is medium to full-bodied and intense, with pungent flavors and great length and persistence. Truly spectacular! 184,684 bottles, 5,578 magnums and some large formats produced. It was bottled in June 2016." - Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
