Red

#68 on The Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines Of 2025

90 points Wine Spectator
Ripe with cherry, this is juicy and pure, showing accents of earth and leafy underbrush. Winds down leisurely, with balance, a firm edge and fine length. Drink now through 2028.

93 points Wine Advocate
The approachable and juicy red 2022 Tinto was produced with 75% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 5% white grapes, as the Garnacha and the white are vital. This year, the wine achieved higher ripeness, at 14.7% alcohol, but it doesn't feel alcoholic or warm and comes through as rounder and juicier but still fresh and in balance, very pleasant and easy to drink. It matured in 225- and 500-liter barrels

91 points Wine Advocate
The Marchesi Antinori 2023 Bolgheri Rosso Guado al Tasso Il Bruciato is an easy blend of Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The 2023 vintage reveals a more powerful and riper character compared to 2022. Baked flavors do come through in this latest vintage with prune and cooked plum. But you also get added sweetness from the barrel aging that imparts dustings of cinnamon and nutmeg. The tannins are soft and accessible.

Organic

92 points Vinous
The 2022 Regnie Montmerond comes from 50-year-old vines grown on shallow granitic soils. It underwent a two-week maceration followed by 12 months of aging in used barrels. It has a focused bouquet, quite mineral-driven with crushed stone percolating through the pretty raspberry and crushed strawberry fruit. The palate is tensile on the entry with rocky detritus that seems to shape the finish. Very distinctive.

The review is on the previous vintage.

94 points Wine Advocate
I also tasted the 2022 Anza where he added the grapes of one more plot in Laguardia. The wine has his house style of elegance, subtleness and nuance; it's clean and precise and does not show any heat or oak. It's seamless, bright and velvety. Delicious. 23,420 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2023.

Diego Magaña purchased another two plots to make one hectare in the zone of San Martín, planted with 80-year-old vines and in Villalba on stony soils, where the plants are 50 years of age. He's now thinking about organic certification, as he has not used any systemic treatments since 2020, and the vines are herbicide free. He's one of the more precise, new young producers in Rioja (and Bierzo), his wines are elegant and clean in the best modern style you can think of.

• Mostly Tempranillo with some Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo, Viura and Malvasía Riojana
• 30 to 50+-year-old bushvines in pure limestone soils
• Fermented with indigenous yeast in open-top wood vats with whole bunches as vintage allows
• Raised for about a year in one 4,000L tina and 225L barrels, all used

93 points Wine Spectator
Blackberry paste, black plum skin and ripe black cherry flavors are brightened by tangy blood orange peel acidity in this minerally red. Sleek and well-structured, with sculpted tannins firming the well-spiced and floral finish. Drink now through 2033.

Organic / Biodynamic / Natural

92 points Wine Advocate
A blend of 60% Nero d'Avola and 40% Frappato, the organic COS 2022 Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico sees cement only to achieve a silky, mid-weight texture. Kicked off with a spontaneous fermentation, it reveals fresh aromas of wild strawberry, raspberry, almond, wild herb and crushed stone. The vineyards are characterized by sandy limestone soils that are unique to this part of Sicily.

93 points Jeb Dunnuck
The 2023 Zinfandel Old Vine was raised in 600-gallon foudre with a small proportion (8%) in new oak, and it’s roughly 90% Zinfandel along with an eclectic field mix. The nose opens to bright peppery spice, fresh cut flowers, and black raspberries, with deeper notes of fresh sanguine earth coming through. The palate is full-bodied yet restrained, with a detailed structure and length with a mountainous feel. It’s a great lens into the range they produce here at Bedrock and a tremendous value. Drink 2025-2032

From winemaker and Master of Wine, Morgan Twain-Peterson.

94 points James Suckling
A mix of red and black fruits with lavender and fresh herbs followed by vanilla, blanched almonds and a hint of black ink and pencil lead. Full-bodied, firm and juicy tannins with good acidity backbone. Sound and harmonious wine with beautiful drinkability. Terrific quality. This needs two or three years to take the edge off

90 points Wine Advocate
The 2020 Black Slate Porrera was produced with a blend of 70% Garnacha and 30% Cariena that fermented in concrete and stainless steel and matured in 225- 300- and 500-liter barrels for 12 months. It's ripe at 15% alcohol with a pH of 3.5 and a black nose with some notes of graphite, fountain pen ink and licorice, black rather than red fruit, a little dusty with a hint of meat and blood, a little animal. It has some dusty tannins and an earthy feeling with a dry finish. 16,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2021

Organic / Natural

White Horse is Bloomer Creek's light-hearted tribute Cheval Blanc, the great Saint-milion blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The Cabernet Franc for White Horse comes from Bloomer's Auten and Barrow Vineyards (vine age ranges from 9-25 years), the Merlot comes from Barrow Vineyard and was planted in 2015. Vinification is similar to the 2019 Cabernet Franc, with a blend of destemmed, crushed and whole cluster fruit fermented in open vats over a three week period. The wine is matured for two years in oak before bottling, unfined and unfiltered.

Natural / Sustainable

Capitán Xurelo is a red blend from many different vineyards. It's produced like of the all reds here, with full clusters that were foot-trodden and fermented with indigenous yeasts. It finished fermenting in barrel and remained there until the next harvest, when it was transferred to stainless steel where it matured for a further eight months. Here, they look for a more austere, perhaps rustic profile. This has tons of notes of acid berries and is light to medium-bodied, with a minty and balsamic touch.

Clean and bright. Dark cherry colour with purple flashes. Powerful nose, high aromatic diversity, with a predominance of ripe red and black fruits with spicy touches and balsamic notes with a roasted finish. Large volume in the mouth passage providing soft and mellow sensations that last over time thanks to its great fruitiness amplitude and length. The wine in the mouth is a faithful reflection of such a complex nose. These connotations give wine elegance and personality.

Organic / Biodynamic

96+ points Wine Advocate
For Juan Antonio Ponce, the 2022 La Estrecha is the vintage that better showcases the finesse of Bobal that they have been looking for, which he describes as fine, ethereal, fresh, elegant and intense. The plot has vines over 75 years old, with 90% Bobal and other mixed varieties on granite soils. It fermented with 100% full clusters in a 4,500-liter barrel and matured in a 5,000-liter oak foudre (instead of in 600-liter barrels like in the past) for 10 months. The wines are not fined, filtered or cold stabilized. This has only 12.5% alcohol, which is possible in the Mediterranean. This is very pale, delicate and ethereal, the change in the élevage from barrels to larger foudre seems to have had a big impact in the wine that feels more relaxed. 4,800 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2023.

92 points James Suckling
A racy, vibrant expression of Rioja gran reserva that’s all about the fruit. Deep, dark plums, black cherries and blueberries with touches of truffles and dark chocolate. Succulent and firm, with a medium to full body and a bright finish. Drink or hold.

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.

The 2022 Bourgogne Pinot Noir, which comes from two parcels within Savigny, has a bright red cherry and strawberry bouquet. The palate is piquant on the entry, delivering moderate depth and a tightly wound, very saline finish.

In the medium-high to high elevation sites, which are particularly well ventilated, the Pinot Noir finds ideal growing conditions. Very elegant Pinot Noir ripen, which are characterized by interesting berry notes. Fresh stimulating nose with an aromatic spectrum ranging from blackberry and bilberry to a hint of cherry brandy with notes of licorice and aromas of undergrowth. On the palate, this Pinot Noir offers a delightful balance between ripe fruit and a delicate tannin structure which confers elegance on this minerally red wine.

Organic

91 points Wine Advocate
The 2022 Cartuxa Vinho de Talha Tinto was produced with grapes from Quinta de Valbom, which has been organic for over 15 years. It's a blend of 40% Aragonez, 35% Trincadeira and 25% Alicante Bouschet with a contained 13.5% alcohol; it fermented and matured in 19th century amphorae (talha) for six months. It's sleek, nuanced and polished, with a soft mouthfeel and fine tannins, medium-bodied and with clean and juicy flavors in the finish. 5,500 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2024.

Fundacao Eugenio de Almeida Adega Cartuxa is a non-profit organization led by a board in order to continue the philanthropic nature of founder Vasco Maria Eugénio de Almeida. It was established in Évora back in 1963 and is one of the traditional names in Alentejo. The Eugénio de Almeida Foundation also relies on the scientific community. Through agreements established with the University of Évora and other institutions, it has been possible to carry out significant technical-scientific partnerships, which began in the mid-1980s

Produced since 1979, Castellares annata sees its usual dollop of Canaiolo Nero as well as a brief passage in small French oak barrels. It is slightly confected to begin, then comes into focus with pure, fresh dark raspberry. Intense floral nuances of violet and rose join in, carrying over on the palate. It is concentrated in flavour with a light dusting of chalky tannins, while intrinsic juiciness keeps it agile. Admirable depth and length for the category. -Michaela Morris, Feb 2025

95 points Wine Spectator
This luscious, dense red is packed with cherry, blackberry, pomegranate and violet flavors. Its tannins are ripe and refined, while the vibrant acidity keeps everything focused. An iron streak weaves through the long, energetic finish. This is approachable now yet will be better in 2–3 years. Best from 2026 through 2045. 833 cases made, 400 cases imported.

94 points Vinous
The 2021 Chianti Classico Riserva is a wine of pedigree and class. Aromatic, vibrant and delineated, the Riserva captures all the best qualities of the year. Crushed flowers, dark red/purplish fruit, mint, blood orange and pomegranate are some of the many notes that build in the glass. This is a sublime effort.

Blend: 90% Sangiovese, 10% Canaiolo & Colorino

Organic / Biodynamic / Natural / No Added Sulfites / Skin Contact

100% Xarel.lo. This single vineyard wine is located at the top of a very rocky ridge called La Sierra de Can Rossell (or La Serra in Catalan). La Serra is a southwest-facing, 1ha plot planted in 2008; it is surrounded by olive trees and river stones are prominent throughout its clay-calcaire soil. Two weeks’ worth of maceration, 80% destemmed, with 20% of the fruit done whole-cluster and foot-pressed. Fermented in stainless steel tanks, left in tank until bottling. Unfined, unfiltered, no SO2 added. First produced in 2018. Herbal, subtle, shimmery with minerals, not nearly as weighty and round as Xarel.lo in the Penedès can be.

Organic / Biodynamic / Natural / No Added Sulfites

More of a Rose than a Tinto. Serve chilled! A field blend of Catalan native varieties, both red and white: Sumoll, Roigenc, Mandó, Cannonnau, Monica, Torbat, Parellada and Xarel·lo. The vineyard was planted in 2006 in calcareous clay soil. Manual harvest in 10 kg boxes, with selection of the grapes in the vineyard. The grapes are chilled down and 90% of them are direct pressed. The other 10% is macerated for 4 months with virtually no extraction to limit color and tannins. Indigenous yeasts and no additions; unfined/unfiltered. Fermented and aged in stainless steel. 11.5% abv

95 points Wine Advocate
The white Godello 2023 La Salvacion was produced with grapes from a one-hectare centenary plot in Arganza, the northernmost and cooler village in Bierzo, a plot on clay and slate that was regrafted from Mencia some 20 years ago. The destemmed grapes were pressed in a pneumatic press, and the juice fermented in 500-liter oak barrels after setting for 24 hours. It matured in those barrels for one year, with the lees but without batonnage. It has 13% alcohol, a pH of 3.07 and 7.25 grams of acidity, meaning good ripeness and very good freshness and acidity. It's vibrant and very tasty, piercing and pungent, with a nice compromise between power and elegance. It's more direct, sharp and tasty but with restraint; it takes time to open up in the glass. 6,700 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2025.

Cesar Marquez Perez, Raul Perez's nephew, is one of the most precise winemakers in Bierzo with the family Castro Ventosa range and his personal project, which he started in 2015. In the 2023 vintage, he is releasing a new wine from the Villegas area, a lieu-dit in Valtuille on sandy soils. The single-vineyard wines are aging in increasingly larger oak containers, combining 1,200-liter vats with 500- and 600-liter barrels. He owns 7.2 hectares and works a further seven with local growers across Bierzo, from altitudes ranging between 450 to 850 meters above sea level. His production is slowly growing, and he now crafts 60,000 bottles per year.

As he told me while tasting the wines from the family winery, Castro Ventosa, which he also vinifies, "2023 was a cooler vintage with rain at the beginning of the harvest. The wines have a floral, serious and elegant profile with a contained alcohol content of 12.5% to 13%." These are some of the finest and more elegant wines he has produced so far.

Organic

The composition is 60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is marked by a vibrant ruby/garnet color married to a richly spicy nose with hints of tobacco and coffee in the background; the flavors are dominated by red currant, cassis, and raspberry; the texture is silky and the wine is smooth and generous on the palate; the subtle tannins have grip but are graceful making this wine particularly welcoming over the near term.
The Pueyos follow traditional vinification techniques. After a 3 day cold maceration, fermentation takes place in both cement tanks and stainless steel tanks. Either way, temperatures are closely monitored so the fermentation proceeds at a controlled pace with maximum temperatures reaching 28 degrees Celsius. The “cuvaison” (fermentation + maceration) usually lasts between 15 and 20 days. Closely monitoring the temperature during fermentation helps avoid extracting the harsher, more bitter tannins that can appear if the temperature gets too high. Half of the wine is aged in barrels for 18 months following fermentation. Only 25% new barrels and 25% one-year-old barrels are used each year, to avoid overwhelming the fruit. The second part of the cuvée is aged in cement tanks. The two parts of the wine are ultimately blended, then fined with egg whites before bottling.

The 2017 vintage was tied for Third Place in PJ Wine's - Wine of the Year 2021 blind taste-off.

Organic

•Certified organic
•100% Cabernet Franc
•A single site on a plateau at 60m altitude
•Grown on silt sandstone and yellow limestone
•40+ year old vines
•Indigenous yeast
•Aged in older 6000L barrels for 12 months

Organic

Organic

Danielle Meunier of Château Haut Segottes is the winemaker. Chateau Haut-Segottes second wine provides a supple, beguiling counterpoint to the flagship cuvée’s muscular classicism. Comprised entirely of Merlot—partly from a one-hectare plot in the dark-sand soils of Corbin, and partly from a hectare in Fortin—Clos Petit-Corbin displays the sheer elegance the variety can achieve in this appellation. Florent and Danielle employ no new wood here, and a small portion of the wine remains in tank during the élévage, thereby further emphasizing its purity and drinkability. What strikes the drinker about this wine is its sense of grace: this is not Merlot forced into some caricature of voluptuousness or gym-pumped into an awkward imitation of Cabernet; rather, it revels comfortably in its lip-smacking red-fruited prettiness. It’s the kind of wine that can only be produced here, and only by growers who are able to fully trust noble Merlot to be its truest self.

Organic / Biodynamic

94 points Vinous
The 2022 Clos Puy Arnaud is a dense, extroverted wine. Inky dark fruit, licorice, menthol and cloves are all amplified. Usually Clos Puy Arnaud is more refined, but in 2022, the vintage dominates and speaks loudly. Even so, this is a compelling offering. I look forward to tasting it with bottle age.

95 points Jane Anson
Tasted at the Palmères de Castillon event, where I was a jury member, and this was one of the wines picked out blind. I checked it against a different bottle at home later, and suggest that it is given at least half an hour in a carafe, as it remains fairly closed, but once again this is proof of the quality of 2022, and it's a seriously impressive wine that offers wonderful value. I'm always a fan of Clos Puy Arnaud, and you get the deft precision of the winemaking here, coupled with ripe blueberry and raspberry fruits, liquorice, black tea, pomegranate and slate-scrape tannins. - Inside Bordeaux

70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon

92 points Decanter
Still fresh and youthful, with oaky vanilla, cool blueberry, tobacco and graphite. A lovely, silky Margaux that speaks of the vintage.

91 points James Suckling
The red fruit is very appealing here with a wealth of raspberries and mulberries, as well as redcurrant notes. The palate has attractively juicy and succulent red berries and a chalky, piercing finish. Second wine of Château Prieuré-Lichine. Try from 2023

Dessert Wine

100% Verdelho
Painstaking manual viticulture on pure basalt
Gentle pressing followed by fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless
Primary alcoholic suspended at about 85 g/L residual sugar with the addition of neutral grape spirit
Aged in used French oak casks for 12 years before bottling
18% ABV
Lajido is the local name for volcanic rock

The review is on the previous vintage.

93 points James Suckling
Earthy, flinty aromas lead to fresh, crunchy red and black fruit flavors in this bottling. An edgy, moderately tannic texture comes from the climate and the use of 45% whole clusters in the fermentation. Drink now or hold.

The Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is a blend of barrels from benchmark vineyards across the region, including the Cristom Estate. Crafted with the same meticulous care as our Mt. Jefferson Cuvée and single-vineyard Pinot Noirs, this cuvée is designed to represent the broader Willamette Valley AVA. It offers a compelling expression of the vintage—elegant, balanced, and unmistakably Cristom—at a remarkable value.

94 points Decanter
Spicy, savoury and toasty, displaying aromas of dried herbs, cloves and cocoa, some dried black fruits notes. Very long finish.

92+ points Wine Advocate
A new wine from the Vi??a 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.

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

The discreet Daniel Bouland took over the family estate in the 1980s and now cultivates around nine hectares of vineyards in Morgon, Chiroubles and the Côte de Brouilly. Most of these vineyards are planted with old vines, some dating back to 1926, as in the Les Delys cuvée. The three hectares of vineyards are farmed conventionally but with attentive work by hand-tying the goblets to protect them from sun and hail. Bouland employs whole-cluster fermentations lasting the better part of two weeks, followed by maturation for up to nine months in foudres or tanks, with only small dosages of SO2 added after malolactic fermentation. The wines are deliberately crafted with an intellectual focus, prioritizing the structural intricacies of the terroirs over sheer exuberance.

This wine is rustic Nebbiolo through and through, that is delightful to drink even in its youth. The body is a very pretty elegant red hue, with traditional notes of smoke, leather and scorched earth. There is a slight note of oak that pairs nicely with some dusty tannins on the finish. It does needs to unwind a bit in the glass, which is typical for the varietal. This is a solid value in traditionally made Nebbiolo.

The De Forville family emigrated to Piedmont from Belgium in 1848 and established themselves in the village of Barbaresco in 1860. Here, the family was instantly engaged in growing the Nebbiolo grape under the direction of Gioachino De Forville. Now, the fifth generation is in place: Valter and Paolo Anfosso, the two sons of Bruno and Mafalda.

In the early part of the twentieth century, the De Forvilles sold their wine in bulk directly to restaurants and to retailers who then bottled the wine. In 1940 the estate bottled its first wine and now virtually their entire production is bottled at the estate

The nearly 11 hectare domaine is divided between holdings in the villages of Barbaresco [4.5 hectare] and Castagnole Lanze [6.5 hectare], a commune that is about four kilometers east of Barbaresco in the direction of Asti.

Their Barbaresco is the standard-bearer for the estate. The vines are planted exclusively within the confines of Barbaresco and are scattered among various “crus”, including Rabaja and Pozzo. The average age of the vines is 35 years. After harvest, the juice is fermented in stainless steel for approximately two weeks; then the wine is racked into large oak “botti” to age at least 18 additional months and frequently longer before being bottled. This wine is emblematic of the work done at the De Forville estate: the wine is rigorously traditional, marrying the finesse of Barbaresco with the alluring aromas and flavors of truffle, earth, berries, rose, tar and leather and carrying, most important of all, a backbone of sweet, dusty tannins that give length and breed.

#66 on The Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2023!

91 points Wine Spectator
Offers good energy and refined flavors of blackberry, dusky spices and black olive that build structure toward medium-grained tannins. Drink now through 2031.

Organic / Biodynamic

92-93 points Wine Advocate
The sample of the 2022 Pétalos has a fresh twist of watermelon, which is quite remarkable, as the summer torrid and very dry and they expected much riper wines. Some 25% of the grapes used here are from owned vineyards in the village of Corullón and 80% purchased grapes. They used more white grapes this year, more than any other year, to give the wines freshness. The result is much better than expected; there's not much acidity, but using so many different plots allows more room to play with the blend, which is something they can only do here and in Corullón. It's perfumed and quite harmonious, balanced and fresher than expected. They expect to fill some 290,000 bottles. This is the 20th anniversary of Pétalos and the 25th anniversary of the winery

Organic

92 points Wine Enthusiast
Oregon and Washington fruit collide to shout, "gamay, gamay, hey." The wine is a mix of whole cluster carbonic maceration and traditional fermentation done in stainless steel, concrete and neutral oak. It is packed with aromas and flavors of strawberries, dark chocolate, pickled watermelon and cut grass. The acidity will make you feel alive.

Winery: Gamay is simply the most delicious, delightful, versatile grape. It hails from the Beaujolais region and also flourishes in the Loire Valley of France, and has witnessed rapid popularization in growth in the U.S. over recent years.

We fell hard for the carbonic maceration fermentation technique while learning about and making wine in the Beaujolais region. Produced like a traditional Beaujolais-Villages wine, we utilize carbonic and semi-carbonic maceration as the layering components.

Fruit, juice, spice, and everything nice.

Organic / Natural

This is PJ Wine's 2024 Wine Of The Year!
Now with a new sale price!

Organically farmed Syrah from the lieu-dit "Les Picheres", less than 2km from the vines of Domaine Alain Graillot in Crozes Hermitage. Vinified with thirty percent whole cluster, semi carbonic maceration, and aged in old neutral barrels from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti.

The bouquet is enchanting, a dazzling display of white flowers, bramble fruit, and a slight note of baking spice. The fruit is lush and plush and feels incredible on the palate (semi-carbonic maceration at play). The finish is silky smooth showing great balance and drinkability. Equis is a joyful, playful wine that doesn't take itself too seriously and yet presents enough layers to keep the most classic plates engaged. This is a crowd pleaser for sure!

Maxime Graillot, the son of iconic Crozes-Hermitage producer Alain Grailliot.
100% Syrah
40+ year old vines
From the lieu-dit ?????Les Picheres?????, less than 2km from the vines of Domaine Alain Graillot
Rocky gravel terroir
30% whole cluster
Indigenous yeast
Aged in older barrels