Red

96 pts Wine Advocate
The 2012 ??nico is released 10 years after the harvest. They produced it with the grapes from 40 of the 210 hectares of vineyards they have, with a total of 55 separate plots and 19 different soils. It's mostly 95% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes that are cooled down for 24 hours and then fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts. Malolactic fermentation was in stainless steel and the aging in 225-liter oak barrels and 20,000-liter oak vats for a long time as this was bottled in June 2018. 2012 is a concentrated year, warm and dry with some rain at the end of September that helped the end of the ripening process of healthy grapes with lots of color and ripe tannins. The wine has a ripe nose, with intoxicating notes of black fruit, fresh meat and blood, a spicy touch from the American oak and an earthy twist. It's a voluptuous and decadent vintage for Vega Sicilia, for those that favor years like 2006, a bit atypical, or 1999.

97 points James Suckling
Berry, smoke, violet and sandalwood aromas follow through to a full, layered palate that shows super polished tannins that are caressing and long. It?????s tight and very long. Give it two or three years to soften. Drink after 2023.

97 points Wine Advocate
I had already tasted the 2013 ??nico from magnum in a vertical tasting of all the magnums ever produced and was quite impressed by it (and the still unreleased 2014 that should be available in 2024). 2013 saw a rainy harvest, and the wine is subtle, elegant and fresh, complex, silky and with precision. The wine matured in 225-liter barrels in an initial phase and then in 22,000-liter oak vats until it was bottled in June 2019. This year, the final blend was 97% Tinto Fino and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon with a little less alcohol, 14%, and a pH of 3.78 and 5.2 grams of acidity, fresh and balanced, more elegant and subtler. ??nico often transcends the character of the vintage and doesn't follow the norm in the region, and the 2013 is a good example of that. It was a very rainy and complicated vintage; they harvested quite quickly to avoid botrytis, and while other people waited for concentration, they did not, and their approach clearly paid back. It's aromatic and floral, less dense than the 2012, subtler, more expressive and more elegant. It's clean and fresh, tasty, with very fine tannins. It's a big surprise for the vintage and one of the finest ??nicos in the last few years. 76,476 bottles, 3,658 magnums and some larger formats produced, the shortest crop since 2009.

98 points Wine Advocate
The 2014 Único was produced with grapes from 40 hectares of vines selected from the 210 hectares the winery has. The grapes were picked between September 20th and October 3rd, and the blend was 94% Tinto Fino and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. It fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts, with malolactic in stainless steel. The first part of the aging was in 225-liter barrels and the second one in 20,000-liter oak vats, and the élevage lasts 10 years between oak and bottle. It's a year that combines power and elegance; it's concentrated but has subtleness. I had a unique opportunity to taste it from magnum one year ago and was truly impressed. This tasting was consistent with those sensations. 2014 was a good vintage in the zone, a year with good rain and a big crop, not as powerful as 2012 or 2015 but a year with finesse. The wine feels very balanced, lower in alcohol and with integrated oak, crunchy, fresh and still young. It feels quite classical; it's fine-boned, elegant but also powerful, more like the Únicos from yesteryear. It has to be one of the finest vintages of recent times. It has 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.85 and five grams of acidity measured in tartaric acid per liter of wine. One of the largest vintages of Único, 104,606 bottles, 3,612 magnums, 356 double magnums, 50 imperials and five Salmanazars were produced. It was bottled in June 2020. It seems like years ending in four—94, 2004, 2014 (but not 84, that was not produced)—are very good here. We'll have to wait and see about the 2024...

93 pts Stephen Tanzer
"Ruby-red. Aromas of dried cherry, raspberry, vanilla, mocha and Cuban tobacco, with smoke and potpourri accents. Supple and expansive, offering sweet, spice-accented red and dark berry and floral pastille flavors that stain the palate. Dusty tannins add shape and grip to the very long, smooth, penetrating finish. I find this wine quite approachable now but it has the balance to age. Not the weightiest Valbuena but very impressive for the vintage."

"The 2007 Valbuena is rounded and warmer than the 2006 with lush dark berry fruits interlaced with scents of espresso and bay leaf. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, crisp acidity with a composed, focused finish of black cherries, raspberry, cedar and mocha. The 2007 has great precision and focus. It is more feminine and assured than the 2006, but one senses that it is holding something back to charm consumers in five or six year’s time. This is very impressive. Drink 2017-2030. " 92pts WA

96 points Wine Advocate
The 2018 Valbuena comes from a cooler vintage with good yields that required sorting and selecting in search of a happy and vertical version of Valbuena, pushing a little more and giving the wine a little more oak, especially American (5%). It was produced with 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Merlot that went through a three- to four-day cold soak and fermented with indigenous yeasts followed by malolactic in stainless steel. The levage was in new and used 225-liter oak barrels and 21,000-liter oak vats. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.8 and 4.78 grams of acidity (tartaric), so it's ripe and with mellow acidity that gives it a mellow mouthfeel. This is a very spicy vintage for Valbuena, getting closer to the style of nico (while at the same time I felt the 2018 Pintia from Toro was getting closer to the aromatics of some vintages of Valbuena, like 2010). It was a late-ripening year with a tendency toward freshness in the wines. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with very fine tannins that made the wine nicely textured and very elegant. There is a lot of regularity in the Valbuena of the last few years, here with more tension and freshness of the 2017, a little more balsamic even. 180,580 bottles, 5,528 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in May 2021.

95 points Wine Advocate
The obsession in 2019 was to avoid excess ripeness and to keep the freshness, so they did a softer vinification, used larger vats for the elevage and used less American wood. The 2019 Valbuena was produced with a blend of Tinto Fino with 3% Merlot. It has 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.88 and 4.6 grams of acidity. I love the nose; it is perfumed and subtle. And the wine is beautifully textured; the tannins are very fine, silky even, quite different from the tannins from the other 2019s from the group that I tasted next to this, Macan and Pintia. A triumph over the conditions of the year, it's a more elegant Valbuena than I anticipated. 190,490 bottles, 5,581 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in June 2022

Organic

The review is on the previous vintage.

94 points Wine Advocate
The granite soils from Montsant used for the 2021 Dido accentuates more the effect of the years, so this 2021 is sharp, austere and reductive, with a paler color. It has moderate ripeness and 12.8% alcohol, a nuanced and subtle nose with herbal and floral notes, a spicy pinch and a medium-bodied palate with some grainy tannins with a chalky texture. They play a lot with concrete, with about 40% of the volume, and the rest is in oak containers of different sizes, from 300- to 4,000-liter ones. This is a serious, mineral red that transcends its price point. 101,892 bottles and some larger formats were produced. It was bottled between December 2020 and January 2021.

Venus La Universal is the project from Sara Pérez and René Barbier in Montsant, where they work with nine hectares of their own vineyards plus 35 hectares from 14 growers, all certified organic and exclusively with those grapes (they don't buy other grapes).

93 points Vinous
Deep, lurid ruby. Mineral- and smoke-accented blackberry, cherry and tobacco scents pick up floral and vanilla accents with air. Sappy, expansive black and blue fruit and violet pastille flavors open up steadily, energized by a spicy topnote. Concentrated yet lively in style, with a smoky mineral quality that adds cut to the impressively long, floral- and spice-driven finish.

Organic

91+ points Wine Advocate
The 2021 Graciano, the first wine they produced at the new Viña Zorzal in 2007, was produced with grapes from the village of Corella to show the expression of the grape in the village. It is still approachable and fresh but more Mediterranean than Fitero, where they have a significant percentage of their vines. It fermented in 10,000-liter stainless steel vats with moderate extraction and matured in used French oak barrels of different sizes for nine months. It has 13.3% alcohol, very good acidity, an expressive nose of beeswax and honey intermixed with berry fruit and lots of aromatic herbs (vermouth!) and a lively palate with pungent acidity in the finish.

This Graciano is from Corella, a slightly warmer zone of Navarra, where they grape ripens nicely. They do a vigorous grape selection making sure only the best make it to the winery. This Graciano is fruit-forward and supple. The plum-colored core reveals dark berry fruit with a slight spice. The aromatics are fresh, the palate smooth, and the finish is soft. If you are familiar with Viña Zorzal’s Garnacha you will notice that this is a bit darker but equally as fresh. Another absolute steal from Viña Zorzal!

The high-acid Graciano is the last one of their grapes to be harvested, in their vineyards around the village of Corella. Following a light maceration the wine ferments in steel. 25% of the wine is racked into French oak for malolactic, the rest happens in steel. The wines were blended and stayed 9 months on their lees in French barrels.

Organic / Biodynamic

100% Rufete VINEYARD: On terraces 750 meters above sea level with vines over 80-years old. Granitic soils. Organically grown, dry farmed, planted in terraces. Hand harvested into 22lb boxes. WINEMAKING: Careful de-steaming and selection. Spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts. All movement of grapes, must and wine done by gravity. Single barrel. Aged 6 months in French oak. Unfined and unfiltered.

Ruby red in the glass with aromas of strawberries, balsamic and hints of mint and fresh floral. Flavors of mixed red berries and herbs with harmonious balanced tannins and a long finish.

Organic

60% Pinot Noir 40% Chardonnay
12 to 18 months Champagne method.
Long lees contact.
Minimal Dosage.

Organic

97 points Wine Advocate
I was greatly impressed by the 2008 El Puntido Gran Reserva, a wine with a more traditional profile than the majority of wines from the Eguren family. At age 14, the wine is glorious, still young and with a mixture of primary and more developed notes. It goes more in the direction of the old wines, with balsamic notes of incense and cedarwood, mushrooms and some berries and herbs. It's complex and elegant, with fully resolved tannins. This was bottled back in May 2011, so it's been in bottle for over a decade, and the texture shows it. It has 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.55. This matured in brand-new French oak barrels for 28 months, and the wine has absorbed the oak completely. (07/22)

Organic

100% Cencibel, the local clone of Tempranillo. The alluring aromatics immediately envelop the senses, fresh red berries and subtle floral components waft from the glass. The dark core gives the impression of power and heft but the solid backbone of acidity provides lift, a weightlessness on the palate. Texturally lush with juicy blackberry and currant characteristics and a long finish that is dry. The balance from start to finish in this wine demonstrates the touch of a talented winemaker. This wine will surely earn a plethora of new fans.

Organically grown grapes in the village of Villarrobledo and El Provencio. 75+ year old vines (Castilla-La Mancha). Hand harvested. The grapes are destemmed, and then fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel tank. Maceration lasts until the end of alcoholic fermentation, with regular wetting of the cap. The wine is then pressed into centenarian local clay tinajas (amphora). The wine ages in tinajas for 3 months followed by 2 months in used French barrels and then 6 months in bottle before release.

Organic

The new kid on the block is Vitícola Mentridana, a family and friends project from Dani Landi (Comando G) and Curro Bareño (Ca' di Mat and Fedellos) with family vineyards and some of the brands that used to belong to Landi. The first vintage is 2021, but the 2020s are already labeled and sold through this new project. In total, they have 15 hectares in Méntrida and Real de San Vicente, some owned, some rented, but all are worked by them organically (and in due time they should get the certification). Production is around 40,000 bottles. It's a great new addition to Gredos.