Discountable for new subscriber coupon

Second Place finisher in our 2023 Wine of the Year blind-tasting!

Second place goes to Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Unica Reserva Rioja 2019! This is a stellar Reserva Rioja from the latest outstanding vintage of the region 2019. Tasting this blind it was apparent that it was Rioja as it demonstrated those classic Rioja notes of dill, savory Tempranillo fruit, and a touch of sweet wood influence. What captivated us about the wine was how seductive the fruit was, ripe without being sweet. We would categorize this as a youthful modern Rioja with enough classic notes to do Rioja proud. This wine is going to make a lot of new friends as it is absolutely irresistible now, but yes it will age a decade easily.

Organic. The Eguren family are the pioneers in the production of parcel specific single cru wines from Rioja in the Burgundy model. Sierra Cantabria Reserva Única is the family’s introduction to their single vineyard range, which is sourced from a spectacular vineyard on the banks of the Ebro River in Labastida. The entire vineyard is vinified as a Reserva, and throughout the aging process, Marcos Eguren carries out a severe barrel selection with only the finest being used for Unica. The wine is produced every vintage, but in varying quantities (1,500-4,000 cases) depending on the quality of the year. Unica represents a premier cru style Rioja single vineyard with fantastic structure, a seamless texture, and a pure red fruit character. Tempranillo (97 %) and Graciano (3 %) from vines older than 30 years.

Second place goes to Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Unica Reserva Rioja 2019! This is a stellar Reserva Rioja from the latest outstanding vintage of the region 2019. Tasting this blind it was apparent that it was Rioja as it demonstrated those classic Rioja notes of dill, savory Tempranillo fruit, and a touch of sweet wood influence. What captivated us about the wine was how seductive the fruit was, ripe without being sweet. We would categorize this as a youthful modern Rioja with enough classic notes to do Rioja proud. This wine is going to make a lot of new friends as it is absolutely irresistible now, but yes it will age a decade easily.

92 points James Suckling
Attractive aromas of sweet spices, smoke and seaweed. Some roasted nuts. Hints of Iberico ham. Medium-bodied with a nice rounded character to the tannins and juicy fruit. Pure tempranillo. Drink now.

92 points John Gilman
The 2019 Rioja Vina Alberdi Reserva from La Rioja Alta is made entirely from tempranillo, with the vines at least forty years of age. The wine is aged entirely in small American oak barrels for two years, with the first year in new wood and the second in ôthree wineö barrels. The wine is excellent on both the nose and palate, with the bouquet offering up a complex blend of red and black raspberries, woodsmoke, a touch of spiced meats, chalky soil tones, cloves, nutmeg, a touch of nutskin and a nice mix of smoky and toasted coconutty oak scents. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and complex, with superb depth of fruit, lovely soil inflection and grip, moderate, buried tannins and fine balance on the long, complex and classy finish. This is already very tasty, but it has plenty of well-integrated tannins still on the finish and 74 tucking it away in the cellar for four or five years will result in a more velvety and complex wine. Fine juice. 2024-2055+.

91 points Vinous Media
The 2019 Reserva Vina Alberdi is 100% Tempranillo, sourced from Labastida, Rioja Alavesa and aged for two years in American oak barrels. Garnet in color, the bouquet features vanilla and ripe plum notes along with hints of balsamic and caramel. Dry and juicy on the palate, the polished tannins and silky flow lead to a fairly nimble finishùa delicate Rioja red. Vina Alberdi is characterised by a notable food-pairing versatility. It is an ideal companion to appetisers, snacks and barbecues, perfect with rice, pastas and stews, and great with lightly-grilled meat and fish

#51 On The Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines Of 2024!

91 points Wine Spectator
A rich, savory thread of tobacco, smoke and ground coffee underscores flavors of creamed cherry and blackberry fruit, black olive, orange peel and cocoa powder in this fresh and focused red. Medium-bodied and well-knit, with lightly chewy tannins firming the finish. Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano. Drink now through 2030.

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

93 points Wine Enthusiast
Deep garnet in the glass, this wine has aromas of blackberry, clove, oregano and violet. Notes of leather and forest floor slightly outweigh flavors of cherry, pomegranate, star anise and lavender, while opulent tannins power into a lengthy finish. This is a classic, traditional Rioja that will appeal to those who enjoy the style.

Intense primary aromas, fresh and harmonious combined notes from oak aging. Outstanding aromas of candied red fruit and spices are underscored by mineral notes. Sweet, ripe tannins in the mouth. Elegant, balanced mouth. Harmonious, pleasant, long aftertaste. Beautiful nose, abundant spiced rich blackberries laced with leather. Round mouthfeel, good balance and savory finish. Pairs well beef, lamb, veal, and poultry dishes

Grapes are from their Las Encinas vineyard in Laguardia, Rioja Alavesa. Fermentation of destemmed grapes takes place in stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature of 28 ºC to 30ºC. Macerated for 2 weeks to ensure good color extraction and smooth, round tannin
Aged for 18 months in French and American oak barrels and 18 months in bottle.

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.

94 points Wine Spectaor
A fresh, graceful red, with dense, sculpted tannins creating good tension while finding fine integration with a lovely range of ripe black plum and black cherry, cured tobacco, balsamico and minerally iron and tar notes. Firm and racy on the lasting, spiced finish. Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo. Best from 2025 through 2035. 4,166 cases made, 500 cases imported

94+ points Wine Advocate
The 2020 Rioja Reserva, their flagship wine, comes from the 300 hectares of estate vineyards. Here, Tempranillo is the backbone, making up 82% of the blend in the low-yielding vintage of 2019, complemented with 8% Graciano, 7% Mazuelo and 3% Garnacha. It has controlled ripeness at 14% alcohol, with a pH of 3.65 and 5.1 grams of acidity. I loved the aromatics here—floral and elegant, more in the style of the 2018 than the 2019. it's lighter, more elegant, fine-boned and has a silky texture and very fine tannins. Both 2019 and 2020 are very good, but 2020 is more my style.

In September 2023, the Cebrián-Sagarriga family celebrated its 40th anniversary as owners of Marqués de Murrieta, which they bought in 1983. In 1996, Vicente Dalmau Cebrián took the reins of the winery, driving a deep transformation, and he continues today, relentlessly trying to improve every year. It's pretty amazing how the wines feel better each year, like a winery on its way up.

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

95 points James Suckling
[#38 Top 100 Wines of Spain 2023] A more vibrant and fruitier expression of Ardanza this year with strawberries, mussels, warm spices and berries. Round and silky on the palate with lovely spices and a long, nicely saline finish. A nice touch of creaminess works really well here and further extends the finish. 80% tempranillo and 20% garnacha. Drink or hold.

94 points Wine Advocate
2017 was not an easy harvest, but it produced some beautiful and classical wines, like the 2017 Viña Ardanza Reserva, which shows a little more advancement and polish and is ready to drink. It was produced with 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha from their vineyard La Pedriza in Tudelilla. It fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and matured in American oak barrels, 36 months for the Tempranillo and 30 for the Garnacha (that was harvested 15 days later), with six rackings. It's ripe and aromatic, tertiary, with 14.5% alcohol and mellow acidity, a medium-bodied palate and sleek tannins. It has a pungent note of clove and pepper, some licorice and ink and the cherries in liqueur from the Garnacha. An updated classical Ardanza. 600,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2021.

92+ points Wine Advocate
A new wine from the Viña Real winery, the 2020 Bakeder is a village red produced with Tempranillo grapes from Laguardia. It has contained oak and good ripeness at 13.95% alcohol, a more modern style of red that shows very young, quite fruit-driven and with a soft mouthfeel and velvety tannins. It has purity of fruit, elegance and finesse with respectful oak after 10 months in French barriques. There are some 30,000 bottles of this. It was first produced in 2019.

92 points Wine Advocate
The new young red 2021 El Predilecto recovers Predilecto, which was a historic brand of the house, a wine with less aging than the rest and more fruity character. In this case, they want it to show the fruit expression of the vineyard without oak. They call it the new old concept in Rioja, what the wines used to be before the arrival of the French, pure fruit. It's a blend of 65% Garnacha from Cárdenas and Cordovín and 35% Tempranillo from Samaniego that fermented destemmed but uncrushed (so not exactly a carbonic maceration) with clean and fresh aromas and flavors. It's ripe and hedonistic, with 14.5% alcohol and good freshness. It matured in concrete for five months.