Best Buys $10 And Under

80% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha sourced from the prized Finca la Pedrizavineyard.

95 points James Suckling
Savory and complex with dried orange peel, cedar and plenty of sweet spices, walnuts, caramel, dried mushrooms and pine needles. Shows maturity here, with a medium body and superb freshness. Incredibly long finish with lots of truffle and walnut. Lasts over a minute. Very complete now, but you can still hold it.

94+ points Wine Advocate
The 2016 Viña Ardanza Reserva was produced with 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha that matured in used American oak barrels for three years, where it was hand-racked from barrel to barrel six times in the case of Tempranillo and five times for the Garnacha, as it had a slightly shorter élevage of 30 months. Against all odds, I found the 2016 to be fresher than the 2015 and less developed, despite the fact that winemaker Julio Sáenz told me he considers it a warmer year. But I have found many wines I like in 2016, and the wine feels very clean and quite harmonious, younger and less developed, with more primary notes and a velvety mouthfeel. 600,000 bottles produced. The wine was bottled in June 2020.

95 points James Suckling
I like the medium-velvety tannins with firmness, brightness and freshness. Full-bodied, racy and energetic. Elegance with structure. 85% tempranillo, 10% graciano and 5% mazuelo. Needs four to five years in the bottle, but already impressive to taste.

94 points Wine Spectator
A dry and aromatic red, with accents of cured tobacco and pencil shavings to the flavors of baked raspberry, licorice snap and tarry smoke. Well-knit and balanced, this is full-bodied, with dense tannins firming the finish. Give this some time in the cellar to shine. Best from 2020 through 2031.

94 points Wine & Spirits Magazine
The Montemarano vineyard rises to 2,000 feet above sea level, where cool evening breezes tempered the heat at the end of the 2011 growing season to produce this intense riserva. The blackberry and plum fruit is loaded with notes of fennel and anise, the whole encased in rigid tannins and dark mineral tones, as well as vanilla notes picked up from 30 months in French oak barriques and Slavonian casks. Give this at least five years in the cellar before pouring with an aged strip steak.

94 points James Suckling
A beautiful red with blackberry, spice, oyster shell and hints of black pepper. Medium to full body, chewy tannins and a polished and pretty finish. Gorgeous. Made from aglianico. One of the best wines in years from here.

Mastroberardino, founded in 1878, is a protagonist in the story of fine wine from Campania in Southern Italy and of the region’s signature red, Taurasi, based on the Aglianico grape. Tenth-generation vintner Piero Mastroberardino helms the estate, working with winemaker Massimo di Renzo. Starting 20 years ago, the duo pursued a more robust style for their Taurasi, shifting gears again with the 2016 Radici Riserva to “the winemaking of my father,” says Mastroberardino. The focus here is on less extraction, with a relatively short, cool maceration of eight or nine days, followed by extended aging, including 30 months in large casks or used barriques and an additional three or more years in bottle.

Organic / Biodynamic

94 points James Suckling
A bright and vivid VN with cherry, violet and hibiscus aromas and hints of peach and lemon that follow through to a medium body. There are fine and integrated tannins and a vivid finish with lots of energy. From biodynamically grown grapes. Vegan. Needs a year or two to show its true excellence, but already a beautiful and linear wine. Drink or hold

94 points Wine Advocate
The 2016 Viña Cubillo Tinto Crianza was surprising, spectacular, elegant, clean and fresh like few vintages before. It was a superb year, with quality, quantity and freshness. It's quite the opposite from the previous 2015, which was a much warmer and riper year. The 2016s have moderate alcohol and especially the perception of less ripeness (even though the alcohol is very similar). It feels very young, still quite primary. Mercedes explained, "Cubillas, a 24-hectare plot, is a vineyard that could produce Gran Reserva wines. It's a very good vineyard, but we would miss the Crianza in our range". In fact, the comment was that this vintage is even a challenge for the Viña Tondonia red "because of its price." It is indeed a bargain. "But it doesn't have the finesse of Tondonia," concluded María José. Anyway, it's super tasty. 92,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2022. Drinking Window: 2024 - 2032

94 points Tim Atkin
It could be a Gran Reserva," says María José López de Heredia of a wine that is always sold as a Crianza, partly for historic reasons. Picked late in a cooler vintage, it partners Tempranillo with 20% Garnacha, and 5% each of Graciano and Mazuelo. Earthy, stemmy yet refreshing, it has negligible oak, racy redcurrant and pomegranate fruit and savoury tannins. 2024-29

Winemaker Notes:
Ruby red with a gold-tinged rim. Deep, vibrant color. A Complex nose. It retains the ripe red-berry fruit aromas of blackberries, blueberries, and block plums extraordinarily well. Gradually it opens up to reveal smoky, toasted wood nuances, with spices and hints of minerals and tobacco. A Smooth mouth-feel, with sweet, polished tannins. A long, elegant, perfumed finish with final hints of coffee with chocolate.

95 points Wine Advocate
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 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.

95 points James Suckling
Attractive nose of dark cherries, dill, thyme, coconut and chocolate. Some salted caramel, too. It's medium-to full-bodied with firm, silky tannins and vibrant acidity. So balanced and fresh with a long, refined finish.

93 points Wine Advocate
The textbook Rioja Alavesa red 2016 Viña Real Reserva was produced with 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano, Garnacha and Mazuelo, mostly from their own grapes. It fermented in stainless steel vats and matured in new and second use barriques for 22 months. This is a more delicate version of the Reserva with added freshness and a touch of red fruit. It has contained ripeness, elegance and balance with very tasty flavors and abundant fine-grained tannins.

92 points Vinous
Deep, shimmering ruby. Expressive, spice-accented red berry and cherry preserve and floral aromas are complemented by suggestions of smoky minerals, vanilla and cured tobacco. Sweet and energetic on the palate, offering juicy black raspberry and cherry flavors that flesh out slowly with air. In a lively style, displaying sharp clarity, discreet tannins and an echo of candied rose on the long, penetrating finish.

Organic

95 points James Suckling
Beautiful transparency here with fresh flowers, green tobacco, pine needles, crushed stones and sandalwood. Dark fruits in the center. Full-bodied with a wonderful balance of fruit and fine tannins as well as mineral, fresh bark and delicate purple fruit. Subtlety with energy. Youthful now and drinkable, but even better in 2026.

93 points Wine Advocate
The 2016 Viña Arana Gran Reserva is an elegant blend of Tempranillo with 5% Graciano matured in used American oak barrels for three years. During this time, the wine was manually racked from barrel to barrel, with the help of a candle, six times. It's ripe at 14.5% alcohol, with pungent notes of forest floor and truffles, dark spices and an earthy touch. It has a powerful palate, with very good freshness and acidity, reflecting the cooler year. It has some tannins that would welcome food. 60,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2021. Drinking Window: 2024 - 2032

"Renieri is an excellent producer of Brunello." - Monica Larner of Wine Advocate

96 points James Suckling
This is a very tight, refined Brunello that shows so much beautiful fruit and polish with dark-berry, cedar, walnut and cherry character. Its full-bodied with layers of fine tannins and a fresh, pretty finish. Needs much more time to open.

94 points Wine Advocate
"The Renieri 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is a plush, fruit-forward and accessible wine that captures the purity and elegance of the vintage. The best take-away, however, is the fresh, ready and bright state of this wine that makes it almost ready to enjoy straight out of the gate. This Brunello from a nine-hectare plot with limestone clay soils offers bold cherry and blackberry with delicate spice, smoke and blue flower. The wine is marked by balanced acidity, and there is some tannic tightness that should further relax by the time this wine hits the market at the start of 2021.

97 pts Wine Advocate
sashays out of the glass with provocative Black Forest cake, warm blackcurrant, wild blueberries and black raspberry scents with an undercurrent of candied violets, menthol, pencil shavings and forest floor...Full bodied..

80% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha sourced from the prized Finca la Pedrizavineyard.

95 points James Suckling
Savory and complex with dried orange peel, cedar and plenty of sweet spices, walnuts, caramel, dried mushrooms and pine needles. Shows maturity here, with a medium body and superb freshness. Incredibly long finish with lots of truffle and walnut. Lasts over a minute. Very complete now, but you can still hold it.

94+ points Wine Advocate
The 2016 Viña Ardanza Reserva was produced with 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha that matured in used American oak barrels for three years, where it was hand-racked from barrel to barrel six times in the case of Tempranillo and five times for the Garnacha, as it had a slightly shorter élevage of 30 months. Against all odds, I found the 2016 to be fresher than the 2015 and less developed, despite the fact that winemaker Julio Sáenz told me he considers it a warmer year. But I have found many wines I like in 2016, and the wine feels very clean and quite harmonious, younger and less developed, with more primary notes and a velvety mouthfeel. 600,000 bottles produced. The wine was bottled in June 2020.

90pts Robert Parker:
Slightly herbal and leafy on the nose, the deep, currant-scented 2016 Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon blends fruit from five different regions of South Australia. It's medium to full-bodied, with soft, measured tannins and true Cabernet identity. Aged in French and American oak, there are some cedar and mocha notes apparent on the nose and finish, but the cassis fruit carries the day.

92pts James Suckling:
Youthful cabernet style here, showing plenty of blackcurrants and a tarry edge with dried plums, some raisins, mint and sweetly fragrant oak spices. The palate is very smooth and juicy. The fully ripe tannins are super fluid and open-knit, delivering a silky and approachable style. Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Wrattonbully, Padthaway fruit sourcing. Drink now or hold.

91pts Decanter:
Bin 407 is an offcut of Penfolds’ signature Cabernet Sauvignon, Bin 707, and as such it tends to share a similar multi-regional expression - in this case Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Barossa, Wrattonbully and Padthaway. It's cloaked in both French and American oak, where it spends 12 months, resulting in a youthfully primary, vibrant red in that distinctly ripe, opulent Aussie style. Sweet, blackcurranty Cabernet aromas are accompanied by just a hint of cooler climate leafiness, all the while showing plenty of cassis richness, nice firm tannins and a savoury quality on the finish. Try with a rack of rosemary and garlic lamb. Drinking Window 2020 - 2030


Taste Description:
Colour
Deep and prominent - solid red.

Nose
Where to start? So immediately true to variety. Punchy, not shy.
Beneath: Subtle forest floor earthiness, laced with liquorice, fennel and anise with a sceric of non-aggressive fresh spearmint.
Above: Sugar pastille wafts - somewhat reminiscent of the fruit bon bons of youth- more prescriptively/realistically - blackcurrant jelly bean.
In between: Summer pudding fruit generosity - suggestive of a cherry clafoutis? Or maybe a fleshy red cherry trifle, avec sponge cake? Yes please.
Absorbed: Stylish/coiffured oak - want to say classy, but might sound pretentious? Next time.

Palate
Bountiful red cabernet fruits complexed by cut tobacco (pouch) and darkened spices.
Seamless, with a tightness/tension between acidity and tannins.
These tannins are ripe and friendly - currently perceived as fruit, not oak tannins.
Oak - quite possibly partially contributing to the sweetness apparent on palate?
Flavour and length. Lingers.

80% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha sourced from the prized Finca la Pedrizavineyard.

95 points James Suckling
Savory and complex with dried orange peel, cedar and plenty of sweet spices, walnuts, caramel, dried mushrooms and pine needles. Shows maturity here, with a medium body and superb freshness. Incredibly long finish with lots of truffle and walnut. Lasts over a minute. Very complete now, but you can still hold it.

94+ points Wine Advocate
The 2016 Viña Ardanza Reserva was produced with 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha that matured in used American oak barrels for three years, where it was hand-racked from barrel to barrel six times in the case of Tempranillo and five times for the Garnacha, as it had a slightly shorter élevage of 30 months. Against all odds, I found the 2016 to be fresher than the 2015 and less developed, despite the fact that winemaker Julio Sáenz told me he considers it a warmer year. But I have found many wines I like in 2016, and the wine feels very clean and quite harmonious, younger and less developed, with more primary notes and a velvety mouthfeel. 600,000 bottles produced. The wine was bottled in June 2020.

The uber rare third wine of Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste. Consisting of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot from the superb 2016 vintage. A wine not to be missed by any Bordeaux enthusiast, this is superb! The wine needs about 20-30 minutes in a decanter to fully unfurl. It is drinking in its prime drinking window displaying lovely complexity and an edgeless finish.

Organic

95% Viura, 5% Garnacha Blanca from Rioja Alta and Alavesa.
Dry farmed, sustainable/non-certified organic plots from Sotés, Cenicero, Hornos de Moncalvillo, Uruñuela and Hornilleja, ranging from 40-100 years old vines. Continental climate and higher altitudes lead to warm days and cool, fresh nights.The regions Calcareous clay and alluvial silt soils retain beautiful acidity allowing the wine to retain maximum freshness and aging potential Production: Hand-picked fruit is destemmed, and allowed to go through native fermentation with ambient yeast. Post fermentation, the wine is aged in 90% French, 10% American Oak for 36 months before bottling without fining or filtration. The wine spends 30 months in the cellar before release.

Soft, smoky fruits with candied peach and hints of almonds and dried flowers are incredibly giving on the nose. There are subtle notes of oak and a touch of that aging development with a gorgeous presence of acidity and creamy balance. Chamomile, grilled lemon and citrus curd all tempt the palate. This is a serious wine with aging potential that could also be enjoyed today in a very big
way.

92 points Vinous
Vina Alberdi is a 100% Tempranillo that was hand-harvested, destemmed, and vinified in tank. The wine was then aged for two years in American oak barrels manufactured in-house; the first year in new oak and the second in barrels averaging three years in age. The wine was then manually racked four times by the light of a candle; it doesn’t get more old school than that!

La Rioja Alta was formed in 1890 as a partnership of 5 quality-conscious growers keen to exploit the export potential for well-made Rioja. At this time, French vineyards were ravaged by phylloxera, and connoisseurs were having to look elsewhere for supplies of fine wine. Rioja, with its excellent climate and soils, had already attracted attention, and experiments with Bordeaux-style vinification and barrique-aging were proving very successful.

La Rioja Alta’s wines are still crafted in the traditional Rioja manner. The bodega is adamant about not using French oak, keeping the unique Rioja style which has been developed since the end of the 19th century. In spite of the varying amount of time in cask and bottle, the wines all display a wonderful rich ruby color, gorgeous aromas of oak, spices, and fruit followed by a sensational feel on the palate, with a wonderfully smooth texture, clean rich oaky/fruity flavors, and a long lingering finish.

95 points Wine Advocate
The classical 2016 Imperial Gran Reserva was produced with a blend of 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo from grapes that were picked between October 10 and 25 with good ripeness, delivering a wine with 14.5% alcohol after fermenting in small oak vats followed by malolactic in concrete and two years in barrel and three in bottle. I was quite surprised, because the wine was quite closed and needed energetic swirling and time in the glass to reveal its true colors. It has more stuffing and finesse than the reserva. 2016 was a very good vintage, with freshness and balance to develop nicely in bottle. The tannins are very fine, and the wine is tasty and long.

100 pts James Suckling
This is really muscular and really powerful. It is amazing. Full-bodied, yet tight and super structured with incredible power and super toned tannins. It goes on for minutes. The greatest Barbaresco ever from here? I love the strength with fruit finesse. I don?????t remember tasting a young Asili like this. Give this a lot of time to come together. One for the cellar. Try after 2026.

97+ points Wine Advocate
Packaged in its distinctive red label, the 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Asili is a rich and profound wine with incredible depth and dimension. Bruna Giacosa skipped over the 2015 vintage because she felt that the fruit was not poised for long aging. From the 2014 vintage, we jump to this 2016 expression, a wine that Bruna says reminds her of the epic 2001 and 2004 vintages. She also loves the 2017 vintage, which I look forward to tasting next year. This wine is incredibly precise and sharp; however, the volume and generous fruit weight promises a long aging future. The aromas veer toward red berry, cherry and cassis, and the darker black fruit tones that you might expect are less prominent in the Asili. The wine majestically captures the elegance and the power of this iconic vintage.

93 points Wine Advocate
I love the textbook nose of the 2016 Señorío de P. Peciña Reserva, as it is earthy, spicy and developed, with notes of leather and vanilla and a touch of smoke and brick dust. It has ripe fruit without excess and a medium-bodied palate with great balance and freshness. It has pungent flavors and is powerful and ripe without excess at 14.5% alcohol and with polished chalky tannins. This matured in American oak barrels for 36 months, during which time it was racked every six months. 42,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2020

97+ points Wine Advocate
The expressive, complex and nuanced 2016 Prado Enea Gran Reserva is a textbook traditional Rioja in the making. 2016 was a very elegant year, with aging potential, volume and very good acidity and freshness. It's full-bodied but fine-boned, has 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.6 and 5.25 grams per liter acidity. It has terrific balance, with all the components in the right proportion to age superbly in bottle. They have also been working on the selection of wood used. This wine matured in French and American oak barrels for three years, and the oak is super integrated. 127,808 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2020. It was an exceptional year with volume and quality. Drinking Window 2024 - 2040

Organic / Natural / No Added Sulfites

An intriguing medium-bodied red with evolved fruit notes on the bouquet but fresh ripe red fruit mid-palate. Soft velvety tannins on the exit. This is impeccably clean for no added sulfites. Outrageously good! 13.5% abv

Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed, and macerated in open-topped wooden vats for 20 days without refrigeration. Hand punch-downs are performed about 4-5 times per day. The skins are pressed to stainless steel tanks for about 4 days at cellar temperature. Then the wine is racked, with the fine lees, to 2500 and 500-liter oak barrels for elevage.

Cabernet Sauvignon (67%), Merlot (27%), Cabernet Franc (4%), Petit Verdot (2%).

The second wine of Château Peyrabon. Notes of both black and red fruits.

A bright acidity and spicy notes on the finish

Organic