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Tempranillo
Bodegas y Viñedos Alion Ribera del Duero 2018 Magnum
"The 2018 Alión follows the path of the 2016: it is fresh and elegant and from a cooler (more Atlantic) vintage with more rain than the average and a relatively late harvest between September 28th and October 12th. They used 80% new barrels, with up to 10% made of American oak looking to (in their own words) give more sucrosity and sweetness to the wine, as it's a more vertical, tense and elegant expression of Alión. Part of the wine matured in concrete (something they started in 2016), and in 2021 they are experimenting with a 4,000-liter Rousseau foudre, as they want to keep working the texture and freshness. The wine is ripe at 15% alcohol and has a pH of 3.8 and a mellow 4.6 grams of acidity, round and soft. The wine matured until it was bottled in June 2020. The truth is that the wine comes through as subtle, elegant and balanced, with very integrated oak and a nice texture. It's one of the finest vintages for Alión. 257,257 bottles, 7,005 magnums and some larger formats produced." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild & Vega Sicilia Macán 2017
"Opaque ruby. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes black raspberry, cherry cola, potpourri and exotic spices, and smoky mineral and vanilla nuances build in the glass. Appealingly sweet, palate-coating red and blue fruit preserve, spicecake, mocha and candied lavender flavors show excellent depth as well as energy and back-end lift. Finishes impressively long, smoky and precise, with polished tannins adding framework and closing grip." - Josh Raynolds, Vinous
Bodegas y Viñedos Alión Ribera del Duero 2018
"The 2018 Alión follows the path of the 2016: it is fresh and elegant and from a cooler (more Atlantic) vintage with more rain than the average and a relatively late harvest between September 28th and October 12th. They used 80% new barrels, with up to 10% made of American oak looking to (in their own words) give more sucrosity and sweetness to the wine, as it's a more vertical, tense and elegant expression of Alión. Part of the wine matured in concrete (something they started in 2016), and in 2021 they are experimenting with a 4,000-liter Rousseau foudre, as they want to keep working the texture and freshness. The wine is ripe at 15% alcohol and has a pH of 3.8 and a mellow 4.6 grams of acidity, round and soft. The wine matured until it was bottled in June 2020. The truth is that the wine comes through as subtle, elegant and balanced, with very integrated oak and a nice texture. It's one of the finest vintages for Alión. 257,257 bottles, 7,005 magnums and some larger formats produced." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Valenciso Rioja Rosé 2020
Valenciso Rioja Rosé 2020, "Not for Luis Valentín and Carmen Enciso the fashionable Côtes de Provence style of rosé. Instead, they make a deeper coloured "sangrado" style from Tempranillo. Structured, serious and fresh, with lees-derived weight and notes of strawberry, redcurrant and blood orange." - Tim Atkin MW
Valenciso Rioja Reserva Red 2015 Magnum
Valenciso Rioja Reserva Red 2015 Magnum, "From an Atlantic styled vintage, the 2015 brims with elegance and finesse. The result is a beautifully cool, spicy and elegant Rioja with plenty of red fruited strawberry sweetness spiked with more-ish meaty characters, brown spices and aniseed notes. It has a supple texture and a fresh, racy finish. Super classy is this fine vino." - Tim Atkin MW
Valenciso Rioja Reserva Red 2015
Valenciso Rioja Reserva Red 2015, "From an Atlantic styled vintage, the 2015 brims with elegance and finesse. The result is a beautifully cool, spicy and elegant Rioja with plenty of red fruited strawberry sweetness spiked with more-ish meaty characters, brown spices and aniseed notes. It has a supple texture and a fresh, racy finish. Super classy is this fine vino." - Tim Atkin MW
Vega-Sicilia “Valbuena 5˚” Cosecha 2014 3L
"The 2014 Valbuena, mostly Tempranillo with some 5% Merlot fermented by plot, making a selection from their 210 hectares of vineyards, and then matured in a combination of barriques and larger 20,000-liter oak vats. 2014 is a spectacular vintage of Valbuena, and it reminds me of the 2010, perhaps a tad more elegant and less powerful. It's expressive and has floral notes on the nose along with wild berries, herbs and a spicy and smoky touch that's nicely integrated. It has good complexity and nuance, and the palate is medium to full-bodied and intense, with pungent flavors and great length and persistence. Truly spectacular! 184,684 bottles, 5,578 magnums and some large formats produced. It was bottled in June 2016." - Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
Bodegas Vega Sicilia Valbuena 5˚ 2016 3L
"Dark violet. Powerful red and dark fruit preserve, pipe tobacco and potpourri aromas are complemented by exotic spice, mocha and incense flourishes. Sappy and energetic in character, offering palate-staining blackberry, cherry liqueur, floral pastille and spicecake flavors underscored by a vein of juicy acidity. Gently chewy tannins build steadily on an impressively long, focused and penetrating finish that leaves smoky mineral, floral and juicy dark berry notes behind." - Josh Raynolds, Vinous
Vega Sicilia Único Reserva Especial Release 2020 (08, 09, 10)
"The NV Único Reserva Especial 2020 Release is a non-vintage blend of 59 barrels from 2008, 2009 and 2010, mostly Tempranillo with some Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine has been getting closer to the style of the Único, and the blend is from vintages very close to the current release of Único, but somehow this year I think the blend has added some complexity to the bottled wine, which has the heart and soul of the 2010 vintage. In fact, they told me they are keeping more wine to have some older vintages to blend for this Reserva Especial, because in the last few years, the wine has been a little too young for the style that it used to have in the past. This has finesse and some of the Burgundian style of the blends of yesteryear. 17,071 bottles and 214 magnums produced. It was bottled in June 2016." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Bodegas Vega Sicilia 2015 Valbuena 5˚ 3L
Opaque garnet. Vibrant, finely detailed cherry liqueur, dark berry, exotic spice and floral qualities on the expressive nose, along with hints of mocha and incense. Stains the palate with sweet, penetrating red and dark fruit, violet pastille, chewing tobacco and spicecake flavors that pick up a vanilla flourish on the back half. Smoothly blends power and finesse and finishes on a youthfully tannic note, showing outstanding clarity and mineral-tinged persistence.