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Wine Advocate (95)
The extremely affordable 2016 Viña Real Gran Reserva Especial recovers the "Especial" mention from the old Reserva Especial vintages from a very good year. It's a classical Rioja Alavesa blend of 95% Tempranillo with 5% Graciano from their own vineyards. It's open and expressive, with notes of berries, fresh blood and iron, orange peel and sweet spices with the oak still present and in need of some more time in bottle. The palate is medium-bodied and feels lean and serious, with abundant chalky tannins. This should be a classical vintage of this wine in the making. It matured in barrel for two years and no less than three in bottle. 30,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2019.$328.00 -
Wine Advocate (95)
The extremely affordable 2016 Viña Real Gran Reserva Especial recovers the "Especial" mention from the old Reserva Especial vintages from a very good year. It's a classical Rioja Alavesa blend of 95% Tempranillo with 5% Graciano from their own vineyards. It's open and expressive, with notes of berries, fresh blood and iron, orange peel and sweet spices with the oak still present and in need of some more time in bottle. The palate is medium-bodied and feels lean and serious, with abundant chalky tannins. This should be a classical vintage of this wine in the making. It matured in barrel for two years and no less than three in bottle. 30,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2019.$194.00 -
(6x75cl) 2010Vinous (92)
(90% tempranillo, with equal parts garnacha, mazuelo and graciano): Deep ruby. Intensely perfumed aromas of black raspberry, cherry pit, vanilla and dried flowers. Juicy and precise on the palate, offering vibrant red and dark berry flavors and a hint of bitter chocolate. The floral quality comes back strong on the very long, smoke-tinged finish, which features a suave spicecake quality and even tannins.$236.00 -
(6x75cl) 2015$1,010.00 -
(1x150cl) 2016Wine Advocate (95+)
The 2016 Cantos del Diablo, single vineyard from the village of Real de San Vicente, the one plot that is bottled separately from within the Méntrida zone of Gredos, had notes of pomegranate, blood orange and wild cherries, showing elements of ripeness and restraint. It's much more mineral, with a chalky sensation on the nose and palate. In fact, it started with a reductive personality, so decanting in advance might not be a bad idea. This cool year is quite pale and sharp, at times closer to a white than a red that is wild in nature and has a sharp palate. This is going to be phenomenal in four or five years. 1,737 bottles and 50 magnums were filled in March 2018.$237.00 -
(1x75cl) 2001Vinous (93-95)
(from a single southeast-facing vineyard at 855 meters; just two barrels made) Good bright ruby-red. Deep, rich, sappy aromas of blackberry pie, violet and licorice. Very rich and very dense but utterly seamless. The sweetest of these 2001s but the wine's powerful spine of acidity gives it compelling juiciness and inner-mouth energy. A note of blood orange accentuates its exhilarating sugar/acid balance. Really spreads out in the mouth and builds on the finish. The longest of these 2001s by a wide margin, finishing with noble, sweet tannins.$559.00 -
Vinous (95)
Opaque ruby. Highly perfumed, spice-accented aromas of black raspberry, smoky minerals and potpourri. Very young and slow to open, offering explosive red and dark fruit flavors and intense minerality, with a sexy note of candied rose. Round, ripe and seamless, with superb finishing clarity that features seductive floral and spice nuance and only a hint of tannins. This wine reminded me of a great Chambertin-Clos de Beze from Rousseau.$5,995.00 -
Dense, intense, monolithic, the 2019 La Faraona is still veiled at this stage on the nose with deep, dark fruit and a savoury note coming through. On the palate however, this is a different story. Wow. The bare-faced elegance and purity of this wine offers vivid freshness and lifted red fruit. It is intense and beautiful with a glorious, wild strawberry note coursing through with a lifted, floral note. This is a fabulous, poised and perfect wine – with super-fine tannins that melt away, leaving only an ethereal scent of bright, red berries and cured jamón as the length goes on and on. A rainwater freshness underpins this stunning, balletic, incredible wine.$3,835.00
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James Suckling (99)
A very expressive, scented nose that offers iron and raw-meat character at first, with nice flinty reduction, then it turns to white sesame, racy raspberries, agave, slate, fresh flowers and dried herbs. Ethereal and super-elegant with a juicy palate, threaded by extremely fine but fresh tannins. It goes on and on, but in a subtle way. This takes your breath way with its fascinating perfume and linearity. From organically grown grapes. Irresistible now if you give it time to breathe to whittle down the reductive character, but better after 2025.$3,765.00 -
James Suckling (99)
Expressive, scented and nimble on the nose with refined mineral and a hint of white sesame-like reduction. Subtle white pepper, herbs and red berries extend to a extremely mineral-textured palate full of tactile allures, which makes it even more engaging. I love the subtle delineation from this vintage, which is elegant, dialed-back and soft-spoken, full of etherealness and cohesion. A vintage where La Faraona delivers more austere minerality and verticality over the more perfumed, precise Las Lamas. From organically grown grapes. Delicious now, but will hold, too.$3,875.00 -
Decanter (97)
It's not often that I would call a geographical fault 'marvellous', but the fault that created the exceptional vineyard of La Faraona is just that. At 0.55ha it will always be limited in production, meaning that lovers of this wine will be at the mercy of the weather (and the price). On the nose, it was a little reduced at the tasting. It’s fairly pale in colour, but don’t be deceived; the palate is alight with dense cherry fruit and notes of cranberry and fennel. The finish is fresh, with definite mineral undertones. Profound. I’d like to come back to this when it has had more time in bottle. Gran Viña Classificada. 2,065 bottles produced.$1,145.00 -
Wine Advocate (93)
The 2010 Las Lamas follows the same pattern as the 2010 Corullon. With high pitched fruit, it is a rather austere, restrained, and less immediate wine with some blood and iron notes as well as saline acidity. It shows extreme balance, dancing on the edge of the razor. If the 2011 is a party, this is rather serious. Drink 2016-2027.$143.00 -
Wine Advocate (96)
They hit the nail on the head with the harvest date of the 2016 Las Lamas, and the wine shows incredible precision, elegance and symmetry this year. I've often discussed with Ricardo Pérez Palacios how sensitive Mencía is with the harvest date and how the grape has a very short picking window, to the point that, in 2016, you feel one day difference. They have been fine-tuning this wine in the last few years, and the result is evident. 3,655 bottles and some larger bottles were filled in June 2018.$695.00 -
Oh, Las Lamas… she never disappoints, and what a fine vintage to play to her strengths. I honestly spent at least ten minutes just breathing in the phenomenal aromas of this wine. The nose is so open with a lovely fine balance, poised between sweet red fruit and granitic splendour. The palate is so mineral and the wet stone purity in this is exceptional. However, the deep cranberry fruit behind is gently sweet and frames the fine, incredibly long length. This has notes of raspberry tea and is another Bierzo wine with a rainwater finish. Gorgeous. Drink 2021-2030.$373.00 -
(1x75cl) 2020James Suckling (98)
A Bierzo with great depth and soft-spoken complexity, but still upbeat, effusing a mineral twist to the smoked herbs, iron, raw meat, black cherries, blueberries, dried botanicals, violets and slate. Medium to full body with an ethereal and layered mid-palate that leads to a super-long, lingering finish. The tannins are so dusty and polished. From organically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but better after 2024.$162.00 -
James Suckling (98)
A Bierzo with great depth and soft-spoken complexity, but still upbeat, effusing a mineral twist to the smoked herbs, iron, raw meat, black cherries, blueberries, dried botanicals, violets and slate. Medium to full body with an ethereal and layered mid-palate that leads to a super-long, lingering finish. The tannins are so dusty and polished. From organically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but better after 2024.$394.00 -
James Suckling (98)
A Bierzo with great depth and soft-spoken complexity, but still upbeat, effusing a mineral twist to the smoked herbs, iron, raw meat, black cherries, blueberries, dried botanicals, violets and slate. Medium to full body with an ethereal and layered mid-palate that leads to a super-long, lingering finish. The tannins are so dusty and polished. From organically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but better after 2024.$673.00 -
James Suckling (98)
Delineated, precise and elegant berries with subtle white pepper funk, mineral and white sesame characters make this so attractive. Nimble and almost “Atlantic” with fresh, tangy fruit that follows through to a textured, medium-bodied palate full of silky, mineral-textured tannins. The long, even and cohesive finish is persistent and ethereal. From organically grown grapes. Delicious now, but don’t underestimate its potential for aging, as balance is the key.$384.00 -
Wine Advocate (96-98)
Right now, I prefer the 2022 Las Lamas to the Moncerbal from this same vintage. Moncerbal is the place that suffers more from the draught and heat, as it's very rocky and has less organic matter, less water retention, while the Las Lamas has more resources to fight lack of water and high temperatures through the higher content of clay. This is expressive, perfumed and elegant, quite Lamas.$145.00 -
Wine Advocate (96-98)
Right now, I prefer the 2022 Las Lamas to the Moncerbal from this same vintage. Moncerbal is the place that suffers more from the draught and heat, as it's very rocky and has less organic matter, less water retention, while the Las Lamas has more resources to fight lack of water and high temperatures through the higher content of clay. This is expressive, perfumed and elegant, quite Lamas.$461.00 -
Wine Advocate (98)
The 2014 Moncerbal, 96% Mencía and 4% white varieties, follows a very clear line that, since 2012, is producing very elegant wines, but this 2014 could be the epitome of it. It could very well be the finest vintage of Moncerbal to date. It has a captivating nose with lots of freshness, floral, complex, elegant and nuanced. The palate has electric freshness, when the Mencía is not particularly high in acidity. This was expressive from minute one and kept changing in the glass and developing nuances. Talk about complexity, and to me, aging potential. 2,675 bottle, 73 magnums, 20 double magnums and 13 Jeroboams were filled in March 2016.$1,870.00 -
2018 Moncerbal is exceptionally fragrant with near crystalline purity. It is a fine, elegant, dancing wine with extremely subtle black berry and black cherry fruit coming through. Its incredible freshness cuts like a knife through the palate which is mineral beyond belief, and the length goes on forever. If you are ever lucky enough to visit this astonishing 1.5ha vineyard, you will see how the vines cling, unbelievably, to vertiginous slopes. That determination somehow comes through in the precision and focus of this stunning 2018 wine. It is exceptional. Drink 2024-2035.$374.00 -
Wine Advocate (98)
The 2019 Moncerbal is a "vino de paraje," produced with grapes (mostly Mencía but also 4% white grapes) from different plots that totaled 1.51 hectares in the same zone of the village of Corullón. It fermented with some full clusters and indigenous yeasts in oak vats for 46 days and matured in oak barrels and foudres for 11 months. It's one of the lower-alcohol wines (together with the Corullón) at 13.5% alcohol. This is super aromatic and floral, with notes of violets and also white flowers and even a citrus touch. This is the showier wine of the 2019s—textured, long and gentle, with a great finish. It has changing aromas and flavors, mixing flowers, herbs, berries, earth and even a lactic touch sometimes. It should develop further complexity in bottle. This is a great vintage for Moncerbal, keeping the freshness and poise of the 2018 in a warmer year. They use less and less new oak barrels, contrary to what they thought they'd need with the new winery. 3,488 bottles, 101 magnums and some larger formats were produced in 2019.$348.00 -
Wine Advocate (98)
The 2019 Moncerbal is a "vino de paraje," produced with grapes (mostly Mencía but also 4% white grapes) from different plots that totaled 1.51 hectares in the same zone of the village of Corullón. It fermented with some full clusters and indigenous yeasts in oak vats for 46 days and matured in oak barrels and foudres for 11 months. It's one of the lower-alcohol wines (together with the Corullón) at 13.5% alcohol. This is super aromatic and floral, with notes of violets and also white flowers and even a citrus touch. This is the showier wine of the 2019s—textured, long and gentle, with a great finish. It has changing aromas and flavors, mixing flowers, herbs, berries, earth and even a lactic touch sometimes. It should develop further complexity in bottle. This is a great vintage for Moncerbal, keeping the freshness and poise of the 2018 in a warmer year. They use less and less new oak barrels, contrary to what they thought they'd need with the new winery. 3,488 bottles, 101 magnums and some larger formats were produced in 2019.$528.00 -
(6x75cl) 2020Wine Advocate (97)
I find the 2020 Moncerbal a little more closed than the other 2020s, darker and serious. It's still moderately ripe, with 13.8% alcohol, sweet tannins and a soft texture. Today, it shows a little austere and very calm—it whispers. It's quite discreet. It was bottled in October 2021, during the 2021 harvest. This is already certified organic from 2020 onward. Approachable already. 5,000 bottles were filled in October 2021. These wines were usually bottled in January/February of the following year, so in 2020 they had a shorter élevage in barrel. The wines were ready earlier.$441.00 -
Wine Advocate (97-99)
I had already tasted the 2021 Moncerbal from barrel and found it extraordinary, so I was looking forward to this sample again. It has the bramble freshness (sometimes reminiscent of the 2013s) with good weight. It's medium-bodied with very fine tannins and pungent flavors of flowers and freshly cut grass. A great Moncerbal in the making.$165.00 -
Wine Advocate (97-99)
I had already tasted the 2021 Moncerbal from barrel and found it extraordinary, so I was looking forward to this sample again. It has the bramble freshness (sometimes reminiscent of the 2013s) with good weight. It's medium-bodied with very fine tannins and pungent flavors of flowers and freshly cut grass. A great Moncerbal in the making.$384.00 -
Wine Advocate (95-97)
The 2022 Moncerbal is a little closed, serious and austere and not showing any heat at all despite the very warm and dry summer. This is now a vino de paraje and is certified organic (since 2018). It comes from six small plots totaling 1.51 hectares of vines in the place of the name in the village of Corullón. They included the white grapes in the fermentation vessel, some 5% Jerez (Palomino). It's a gentler vintage for this wine, with less of that elegant rusticity from the rocky soils.$145.00 -
Wine Advocate (96)
The village wine 2018 Corullón has, for the first time, the new category Vino de Villa (village wine!). It comes from around 90 plots of their own vineyards. In the cooler and more Atlantic 2018, they had more rain than the previous two vintages and a lower average temperature, and they think it was excellent for their wines ("a modern version of 2001," Ricardo Pérez Palacios told me). There are around 8% white grapes here, and the wine fermented in oak vats with punching down, and the élevage was in a combination of barriques, bocoyes and foudres, oak containers of different sizes, and was short of 11 months. This is the modern version of 2001 and 2012, and in 2018, it has the part of Moncerbal (almost 40%) that was not in the 2017 (because of hail, the Moncerbal bottling was not produced in 2017), so it goes back to the classical style. There is terrific balance here, great purity, with the essence of slate; here, we move from the fruit of the Pétalos to the herbs. But there is complexity and nuance, violets, rockrose, sap, resin, fern, cinnamon and citrus, all very subtle and harmonious. The flavors have similar purity, and if these wines never have high acidity, there is great freshness, soft citrus, all very subtle and velvety. This is sooo easy to drink it could be dangerous... They produced 23,034 bottles and other formats, half-bottles, magnums, double magnums and jeroboams. It was bottled in January 2020.$234.00 -
Wine Advocate (96)
Following the new classification of wines, the 2019 Villa de Corullón is a Vino de Villa (village), produced with grapes from 6.71 hectares divided into 200 small plots they own on slate-rich soils at 500 to 950 meters in altitude. It's 91% Mencía, 1% Alicante Bouschet and 8% white grapes from old vines (50 to 90 years old) that are organically and biodynamically farmed, and the wine will be certified in the coming years. The partly destemmed grapes fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts for 43 days and matured in barriques and foudres for 10 months. It has a "moderate" 13.5% alcohol, the lower part of the range, as they aim for 13.5% to 14% alcohol in the finished wines. This is a great blending exercise, as the wines are blended mostly before putting it in barrel. It's a subtle and elegant Corullón, with great balance and freshness; Ricardo talked about some tannins that are very fine. It's a fluid vintage for this bottling, a little herbal, versatile and complex. It seems to have more character than the Moncerbal than it has had in other years. This could be one of the lightest and most elegant vintages of Corullón, with a different texture from the rest of the 2019s. There were 20,344 bottles and some other formats produced.$256.00
While Rioja is still the region that springs to mind for most consumers when thinking about Spain, wines from other regions are slowly yet assertively making themselves known. There are the dark, arresting wines of Priorat, the crisp, apply whites made from the Godello grape, the often almost Burgundian Ruedas, the ‘cult’ wines like Vega Sicilia… not just rustic, oxidative wines any longer, but rather intriguing and individual vinous experiences.
