Red

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.

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.

93 points James Suckling
Aromas of plums, mulberries, dried flowers, stones and violets. Medium-bodied with fine tannins. Textured and creamy. Balanced and subtle. Flavorful finish with excellent length.

The Merayo family have been growing grapes for generations in Bierzo and one look at Pedro’s immaculate vineyards suggests he knows what he’s doing. The bulk of Pedro’s 25 hectares of ancient vines were inherited from his father but Bodegas Merayo and the new winery (housed in a converted apple store) were established as recently as 2010.

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.

94 points Wine Advocate
The 2023 Parajes is his regional red, a blend of different places, soils, expositions and altitudes (between 450 and 780 meters above sea level). It's a real representation of El Bierzo, with grapes from 45 different plots in nine villages. The vines range in age from 80 to 142 years of old and are planted with field blends - approximately 85% Mencia, 10% Alicante Bouschet and 5% other white and red varieties like Bastardo, Souson and Estaladina. There are always some full clusters, depending on vintage and plot, and part of the wine ferments in stainless steel and part of it is in bins, as he ferments by plot. The wine matured in 225-, 400- and 500-liter oak barrels for one year. It has moderate ripeness and 13.08% alcohol, a pH of 3.58 and 5.34 grams of acidity, making it lower in alcohol than the 2022 and with more freshness. It's serious and balanced, elegant and fine-boned. It gets very close to the village red this year. This is a bargain. 34,000 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.

97 points Wine Advocate
The 2023 Pico Ferreira comes from a lieu-dit in the village of Corullon, a northwest-facing, shady slope planted with centenary vines on slate soils. It fermented with 30% full clusters and indigenous yeasts in 1,000-liter vats with 21 days of maceration and matured in a 1,200-liter oak vat and 600-liter barrels for one year. This is a little more discrete and remained closed after being in the glass for a while, whereas the other wines opened up. It comes in at 12.98% alcohol, with a pH of 3.57 and 5.36 grams of acidity, with abundant, slightly dusty tannins. 1,980 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 / 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

92 points Vinous
The 2021 Lalama blends 85% Mencía, 8% Brancellao and 7% other grapes from Val do Bibei, Ribeira Sacra. Aged up to 14 months in barrels and , it displays a deep purple hue with blue tones. It's expressive, with herbal and red fruit notes, hints of blood orange, pomegranate, violet and a subtle barrel influence. Fine tannins, slight freshness and a touch of wet earth balance its ripeness.

Organic

The review is on the previous vintage.

92 points Wine Advocate
A new red produced with grapes from the village of San Lorenzo, the 2022 Motorpsico comes from plots from the zone of A Merced that have 30% white grapes. It's produced following the way the wine was produced in the village of Toral de los Vados, adding must without skins to produce a lighter red. The wine then matured in used 225-liter French oak barrels for one year. It's pale, perfumed, fruit-driven and light, with 12.5% alcohol a medium-bodied palate and very fine, almost unnoticeable tannins. It is perfumed and delicious.

Organic

92 points Wine Advocate
I love the simplicity of the red blend 2020 Candea Tinto, which is straightforward, tasty, juicy and balanced, without any excess or makeup, raw and authentic, with note of wild berries, flowers and herbs and a medium-bodied palate with moderate alcohol and nice balance. Highly drinkable. 14,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2022

97 points Vinous
The 2023 La Vitoriana Lomas de Valtuille is a Mencia from the eponymous paraje in Valtuille, sourced from a centenary vineyard. It fermented with 100% whole clusters and aged for up to 11 months in barrel. This is expressive on the nose, with flowers, mint, white pepper and dried blossoms providing aromatic lift. The tannins are fine, the palate is flavorful and the whole-cluster fermentation gives it a compact, tight finish.

95 points Wine Advocate
The 2023 La Vizcaina La Vitoriana is the only red from the Vizcaina range that is not from their own vines, as they buy the grapes, 1.1 hectares in the lower part of the lieu-dit that has sandy soils (the other parts have clay). It's quite linear and with good acidity but ripened thoroughly. There are no white grapes here, only a small percentage of Bastardo, and the vines are 100+ years of age. This is a small lieu-dit in a cooler place in the village, a place that is harvested later. Some 5,000 bottles produced.

96 points Vinous
The 2023 El Rapolao Lomas de Valtuille is a Mencía from a centenary vineyard in Bierzo that is trained from head to trellis. It fermented with 100% whole clusters and aged for up to 11 months in barrel. This is direct, offering pomegranate, cherry, violet, rosehip and a hint of mint that refreshes the bouquet. It is juicy and tense, with fine, slightly dry tannins delivering freshness and energy. The finish is compact and marked by the stem character.