Spain
Spain
Forjas del Salnés 2021 Goliardo Tintos de Mar Rías Baixas
Spanish Red
Black pepper, herbs and flowers appear with a wild character. The palate is medium-bodied, with supple tannins, fine silky texture, freshness and a long finish with a salty note. Caíño Tinto, Loureiro, Espadeiro and Sousón form the blend. The grapes come from old vines planted on pebbly, sandy and granitic soils. Maturation lasts twelve months in oak barrels and large foudres.
MicroBio Wines 2019 Ruf y Ann Rufete
Spanish Red
Wild raspberry, olive, earth, cumin and floral notes appear in a delicate profile. Acidity is pronounced, while the tannins are sweet and delicate. The finish is long and floral. Rufete comes from a vineyard planted in nineteen fifty-one at Miranda del Castañar, with decomposed granite and a slate outcrop. The wine carries 13.3 percent alcohol and the vineyard is farmed biodynamically.
Primitivo Collantes Amontillado Fino Fossi
Spanish Fortified
Clear amber colour accompanies dried fruit, cereal aromas, preserves and pepper, with marked acidity and a balance of acidity and sweetness. Palomino Fino comes from the Matalián vineyard. Biological ageing under flor lasts five years; the wine is then fortified and continues through about ten years of oxidative ageing in the criaderas-and-solera system. The palate is fresh and savoury with saline notes.
Cota 45 2019 UBE Miraflores
Spanish White
Flower aromas, very ripe white fruit and fresh yeast accompany a clean, balanced and saline profile. Palomino Fino comes from eight plots in Miraflores Alta and Baja with three types of albariza soil: lentejuelas, lustrillos and tosca cerrada. Fermentation takes place in Sherry butts, followed by eight months in selected butts; flor is present during the final two months.
Javi Revert 2023 Sensal
Spanish Red
Monastrell, Bonicaire, Arcos and Garnacha come from old and young plots in Els Juncarejos. Each plot ferments separately with indigenous yeasts and a high proportion of whole clusters. Maturation lasts ten months in concrete and 300-litre French oak barrels. The red wine contains thirteen percent alcohol, with a pH of 3.56 and 5.1 grams of acidity; 6,500 bottles were produced.
El Maestro Sierra Cream Sherry
Spanish Fortified
Almond, prune, raisin, caramel, roast coffee and tobacco form the aromatic profile. The palate is rich and sweet, with balancing acidity, a round texture and good intensity. Cinnamon and walnut appear on the finish. The blend combines fifteen-year-old Oloroso with five-year-old Pedro Ximénez, which accounts for thirty percent, followed by four years in old American oak through the solera system.
Escoda-Sanahuja 2019 Mas del Gaio
Spanish White
Light and fragrant, the skin-contact white is tightly woven, firm and concentrated. Tropical fruit and salinity are present, with a long finish. Parellada forms half of the blend, joined by Grenache Blanc and Macabeu from old vines. After eight days of skin contact, fermentation takes place in amphora. The wine remains in amphora for eight months before moving to old oak.
Telmo Rodriguez 2014 Pegaso Granito
Spanish Red
Blackberry, black cherry, thyme, rosemary and earthy notes accompany a deep ruby colour. The palate is fleshy and concentrated, with firm tannins, mild acidity and a mineral finish. Orange, lime, bark, forest floor, spice and red fruit are also present. The texture is balanced and expands across the back of the palate, adding length. This is a dry Garnacha red.
Matsu 2020 La Jefa Malvasía Toro
Spanish White
The wine is made entirely from Malvasía. Vanilla and ripe stone fruit stand out, accompanied by creamy notes and light anise. The palate is mouth-filling and silky, with creaminess and good acidity. The finish is long and dry. Grapes come from scattered parcels of old, pre-phylloxera vines cultivated naturally in Toro, and this is the producer’s first white wine from the region.
Mixtura 2019 Blanco Vino de España
Spanish White
Treixadura from the Avia Valley accounts for fifty-five percent of the blend, with forty-five percent Albariño from Valeixe and Melgaço. Yellow apple, citrus, fresh herbs and white flowers define the profile. The palate has good acidity, and the finish is long, savoury and intense. The grapes grow in granitic soils with varying amounts of decomposed sand. Alcohol is thirteen and a half percent.
Las Moradas de San Martín 2019 Senda Garnacha 1.5 L
Spanish Red
Old bush vines grow on granitic, sandy-loam soils. The grapes are harvested by hand and sorted on a table. Fermentation uses indigenous yeasts, and maturation lasts ten months in five-hundred-litre French oak. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration. Cherry colour accompanies floral notes, plum, scrubland and mineral character. The profile is fresh, lively and aromatic, with a long finish.
Raventós i Blanc 2016 Silencis Xarel·lo 1.5 L
Spanish White
Xarel·lo comes from an east-facing vineyard with fifty-year-old vines rooted in limestone soils containing marine fossils. The wine is dry, acidic and saline, with fennel in the profile. Fermentation takes place without oak. The wine ages on its lees and is bottled without stabilization or filtration. Viticulture on the property extends back more than a century. This is a still white wine from Penedès.
Veronica Ortega 2023 Kinki Bierzo
Spanish Red
Pale ruby colour accompanies raspberry, redcurrant and tart strawberry, with floral, herbal, saline and citrus notes. The palate has freshness, firm tannic structure and mineral character. Mencía is joined by Doña Blanca, Palomino, Godello and Alicante Bouschet from a single old-vine parcel. The varieties ferment together with whole stems, followed by eight months in 800-litre amphorae. Alcohol is eleven and a half percent.
Lopez de Heredia 2014 Vina Bosconia Reserva Rioja DOCa
Spanish Red
Intense ruby colour has light brick edging. Ripe red fruit, floral notes, lavender and withered leaves accompany vanilla, cinnamon, clove, leather, coffee, tobacco and balsamic notes. Wild berries, earth and integrated oak are present with sinewy tannins, acidity and a long finish. The blend is eighty percent Tempranillo, fifteen percent Garnacha, three percent Mazuelo and two percent Graciano. Ageing lasts five years in American oak, with two manual rackings each year.
Hammeken Cellars 2015 Oraculo Ribera del Duero
Spanish Red
Deep ruby colour accompanies black cherry, toasted oak, cigar box, game, tobacco and Asian spice. The palate is dense, layered and succulent, with soft, velvety tannins and a long finish. Tinta del Pais comes from vines eighty to one hundred and fifty years old. Fermentation lasts twenty-five days in cement, and ageing lasts twenty-four months in new 500-litre French-oak barrels. Production totals 7,452 bottles.
Bernabeleva Rompepalos Rancio
Spanish Red
Dried citrus peel, toasted almond, chamomile, wild herbs and layered savoury spice sit alongside freshness and mineral character. This oxidative red is made entirely from Garnacha. Ageing takes place in criaderas and demijohns using an established solera. Alcohol is eighteen percent. The wine comes from San Martín de Valdeiglesias in the Vinos de Madrid area.
Chivite 2021 Colección 125 Gran Vino Blanco
Spanish White
Pale yellow colour has green tones. Ripe white fruit, citrus, acacia flower and bakery notes form an intense, complex aromatic profile. The palate is unctuous, dense and silky, with freshness. Chardonnay was harvested by hand, briefly macerated and pressed at low pressure. Fermentation and twelve months of ageing took place in French oak barrels with the lees in suspension. Alcohol is fourteen percent.
Maria Rigol Ordi Màgnum Cupatge Dos Mil Divuit Reserva Brut Nature 1.5 L
Spanish Sparkling
Pale yellow colour carries light golden hues. Fine, creamy bubbles accompany floral notes, Mediterranean herbs, pear, green apple, grapefruit, peach and apricot. The texture is light and silky. The family winery is based in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, where it preserves manual riddling and hand disgorgement. Its Cavas use traditional Penedès varieties and are made for extended ageing.
La Rioja Alta 2005 Viña Ardanza Reserva Rioja 1.5 L
Spanish Red
Spicy and balsamic aromas include vanilla, coconut and black pepper with blackberry notes. The palate is well structured, with balanced acidity and alcohol, soft, silky tannins and a long finish of fresh blackberry and spicy wood. The blend is eighty percent Tempranillo and twenty percent Garnacha. Tempranillo matures for thirty-six months in American oak, while Garnacha spends thirty months in American oak.
Viñedos El Pacto 2021 Riojanda Viñedo Singular Rioja
Spanish Red
The small Navaridas parcel sits at 535 metres on calcareous-clay soil, with a ten-percent east-facing slope. It covers 0.2163 hectares, and its old vines produce less than one kilogram per plant. The grapes were picked by hand, destemmed without crushing and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts in wooden vats. Maturation lasted fourteen months in new 500-litre French oak barrels.
Comando G 2023 Villanueva Garnacha Cebreros
Spanish Red
Fresh cherries and raspberries are present alongside floral and mineral notes. The texture is light and fluid, with length. The wine is made entirely from Garnacha and comes from Villanueva within D.O. Cebreros. Maturation lasts ten months in cement tanks and barrels. The vines are thirty to sixty years old, rooted in granitic sand and silt above 1,000 metres.
La Rioja Alta 1995 Gran Reserva 890 Rioja
Spanish Red
Soy, marmalade, Seville orange, clove, strawberry, citrus lemon, floral detail and spice accompany crisp, finely tuned tannins. Raspberry, leather, game and cinnamon add further detail. The blend includes Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo. Maturation lasts six years in American oak, and the wine contains 12.7 percent alcohol. The colour is dark tile red, while ripe fruit, wood and forest fruit are present with a persistent finish.
Vega-Sicilia 2020 Pintia Toro
Spanish Red
Opulent and juicy character appears with a smooth, refined profile. Extraction was reduced during fermentation. Amphorae were incorporated into ageing and the impact of toast was reduced. Freshness is also present. The growing season brought above-average, well-distributed rain. Summer included occasional rain and daily temperature variation. The wine comes from the Toro denomination, and alcohol is 15.5 percent.
Marqués de Murrieta 2009 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial
Spanish Red
Tempranillo accounts for eighty-one percent of the blend and Mazuelo for nineteen percent. Dried flowers, eucalyptus, smoke and violets accompany depth of fruit, concentration and fine tannins. The finish is elegant and ethereal. The grapes come from the La Plana vineyard in Rioja Alta and spend twenty-six months in 225-litre American and French oak barrels.
Vega-Sicilia 2020 Macán Rioja DOCa
Spanish Red
Tempranillo comes from vineyards averaging forty years old at about 500 metres. The fruit was harvested by hand in twelve-kilogram boxes. The wine is powerful and subtle, with richness, freshness and balance. Fermentation is followed by malolactic conversion in barrels and tanks, while ageing uses fine- and extra-fine-grained French wood. The wine remains in wood for fifteen months before bottle maturation.
De La Riva 2022 Macharnudo El Notario Vino de Pasto
Spanish White
Palomino Fino comes from the El Notario parcel in Macharnudo. This unfortified white wine ages under a veil of flor in Sherry casks. Pale golden in colour, it combines floral notes, citrus fruit, bakery aromas and nuts. The profile is fresh, complex and mineral, with a long finish. Alcohol is fourteen percent, and production totals two thousand bottles.
Primitivo Collantes 2021 Socaire Palomino Fino
Spanish White
Golden straw colour accompanies slate, flowers, ripe white fruit and lactic notes. The palate is broad and fresh, with mint and a long finish. Palomino Fino grows in albariza soils near Chiclana de la Frontera. The dry, unfortified white matures for about twenty-four months in old Fino barrels that remain topped, allowing a light influence from flor.
Forjas del Salnés 2023 Leirana Albariño
Spanish White
White flowers, fruit, herbs and fine-lees notes accompany an elegant, clean expression. The medium-bodied palate has ripeness, freshness and balance, with a bitter, salty twist at the finish. Albariño ferments and matures for six months in stainless steel and oak foudres, with eighty percent of the wine held in foudre. The fruit comes from Rías Baixas in Galicia.
Villota 2021 Selvanevada Rioja Blanco
Spanish White
Pale gold colour accompanies pineapple, lemon, floral notes, spice and vanilla. The blend has a creamy, rich texture, with minerality, dried apricot and hazelnut. Viura, Garnacha Blanca, Malvasia and Tempranillo Blanco form the cuvée. Maturation lasts six months in French oak on the lees. The fruit comes from Rioja Alavesa within the Rioja denomination in Spain.
Gratavinum 2022 2πr Priorat
Spanish Red
Deep purple colour with ruby tinges accompanies preserved red fruit and toasty oak detail. The entry is soft, with ripe tannins, good volume and acidity. Fruit and a mineral character are also present, together with a long, fresh aftertaste. Grenache, Carignan, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon form the blend, with grapes grown organically and biodynamically in Priorat.