Wines

From the winery:

La Antigua Clásico is one of Alberto Orte’s most enduring history projects and shows off an unexplored region of DOCa Rioja, the western mountain range of Sierra de la Demanda. Inspired by the style of winemaking that was popular in the first half of the 20th century, Alberto’s winemaking emphasizes freshness and minerality, leading to balanced, long-lived wines. To that end, he has found old vine Garnacha, Tempranillo and Graciano in Sierra de la Demanda, south of the Ebro river in Rioja Alta. The north-facing, high-altitude vineyards receive far less sunshine than those in the valley, resulting in grapes that ripen slowly, showcasing intense flavors of greater balance and focus. This poses quite a risk that only hands-on viticulture can remedy: this area is one of the last to harvest in all of Western Europe, usually in early November! In addition to the cool climate, Sierra de la Demanda’s vineyards are extremely scattered and steep. This terrain is impossible to mechanize, and all vineyard work must be done by hand. The result is a handcrafted wine of precision and elegance – fresh and beautiful to drink now, with built-in longevity. Learn More

94 Points! The 2022 Tio Uco Vino de Comarca, crafted with 90% Tinta de Toro and 10% Garnacha sourced from Paramo de la Guarena, is bottled as Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon and was aged in 2500-liter foudres. It exhibits a purple hue. Its reductive nose, reminiscent of cherries, also features plums and light vanilla. Light and fairly lean, the taut and chalky palate leads to a compact, refreshing, juicy and lasting finish. - Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous Media

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96 Points! Juicy, ripe, plummy fruit with a spicy wood touch and a hint of citrus. Assertive and fine-grained with medium to full body. Excellent tannins are nicely woven and integrated with the fruit. Long finish. La Hoya stands out in this challenging vintage. 95% tempranillo and 5% viura. Sand and silt soils on an east-facing slope. 3.3 hectares. From organically grown grapes. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The bottled version of the 2023 La Hoya feels quite serious and harmonious. It spent its first winter in 500- and 600-liter barrels and the second one in a 4,000-liter oak foudre. The nose is quite subtle and a little shy, with finesse. The top part of the plot is sandy, and the lower part has more silt; the combination gives the wine fruit and structure. It also has a lot of limestone and comes through as very balanced too. It's medium-bodied and really fine-boned. This is now showing much better than anticipated. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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97+ Points! The bottled 2023 San Lázaro, from the 1.62 hectares of vines they have, shows contained ripeness and has 14.4% alcohol. This is always more restrained, and there's no exuberance here; there's subtleness, finesse and verticality. It has a spicy side, with notes reminiscent of curry, a little à la Vosne-Romanée, a little cinnamon perhaps, but with the Tempranillo austerity, of course. The palate is medium-bodied, with great balance and super fine and elegant tannins. The wine is a little closed at the moment, but it should grow with time in bottle. It's really good and challenges El Carretil this year. I give it the edge—perhaps because it is the more approachable of the 2023s. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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92 Points! The eponymous 2024 Artuke is a juicy and tasty carbonic maceration red, a modern rendition of the classical "cosechero" wines. It is perfumed, aromatic and heady, with aromas of bubble gum and flowers and a velvety palate with almost unnoticeable tannins. It's a young and unoaked Tempranillo with some 5% white Viura grapes from the village of Baños de Ebro and was kept in concrete until it was bottled...This is a bargain to buy by the truckload and drink unashamedly. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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93 Points! The winery’s flagship, the 2022 Crianza has a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Merlot and is aged in older barrels, 70% French. It has the appellation’s classic power and finesse, made in a full-bodied, concentrated style of smooth tannins and fruity passionfruit and cranberry. Leather, rose petal, and toasted oak nip at the long finish. Age another 10-15 years. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

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95 Points! From 97% Tempranillo, the rest Merlot and Albillo Mayor, the 2021 Reserva spent 28 months in French oak barrel and has quite a bit of toastiness on the palate. The tannins are smoothened and round, with a hint of chalkiness and grip. From a sizable percentage of old-vine grapes, it has an ethereal freshness and full-bodied layers of dark berry, leather, anise, and dried herb. It should offer 15-20 years more of aging. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

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94 Points! This is so gorgeous and well polished with aromas of berries, tobacco, cedar and fresh mushrooms. Medium to full body, fine tannins and a beautiful, textured finish. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

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94 Points! Glossy, pure fruit here showing excellent concentration of red berries, cherries, hibiscus, stones and subtle spices. Concentrated and deep on the palate with outstanding volume for this vintage. Vertical and pretty long. One of the best Corimbos here. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! 2019 was a warm year, but the style of the wines is quite balanced, and the 2019 Corimbo shows quite faithful with the character of the year. It has a contained 14% alcohol and shows balance and seriousness. The nose shows some restraint, with varietal berry fruit and measured oak. It matured for 14 months in oak barrels, 80% of them French and the rest American. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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95 Points! A really drinkable Ribera del Duero that shows restraint and finesse. Dark cherries and grilled herbs with a hint of white pepper and cocoa powder. Full and supple with fine, precise tannins. Very long, persistent and rather intellectual. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

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94 Points! The 2022 Anza red blend, which I already tasted last year, and seems to have had very little development and comes through as young and fresh, perfumed, floral and elegant. It's a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo, Viura and Malvasía with a very elegant, medium-bodied palate with very fine tannins. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

93 Points! Chalk, vibrant berries, hibiscus and wet stones. Rich in red cherry fruit and plums, but fresh, with a medium to full body and tight, fine-grained tannins. Long and structured. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

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97 Points! The 2021 Anza Especial was produced with the idea to obtain a wine with aging potential while keeping the freshness and drinkability from early on. It was produced with the fruit from three old vines—Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha and Viura—fermented by plot in stainless steel and matured in used 500-liter oak barrels. It encapsulates the perfume, finesse and elegance that is present in the whole portfolio here with the aid of a very balanced 2021 vintage. It has notes of violets, red and black berry fruit, wild herbs and subtle spices. The palate has symmetry, elegance and precision, the tannins are extremely fine-bonded, and the flavors pure and precise and stay in your mouth for a long time after you swallow. Great juice. It should age effortlessly. 2,800 bottles produced. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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93-94 Points! Tasted just before bottling, so a sample of the final blend, the 2023 PSI is juicy, ripe and approachable. It is a little showier and headier, despite having similar alcohol to the bottled 2022 (perhaps a tad higher, but not quite reaching 14%), and it feels a little riper, with peachy notes and some decayed flowers. It has abundant tannins and feels like it's in need of some more time in bottle. This is usually the case for PSI: the tannins need time. They are resolved quite quickly, but it does need a bit of time. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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94 Points! I tasted two vintages of the entry-level wine, starting with the 2021 Pícaro del Águila Tinto. It's ripe and round, with round tannins, velvety and polished, approachable and hedonistic. It's nicely built and serious, very serious for an entry level. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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94 Points! 2021 was a very good vintage for Dominio del Bendito, and the 2021 Las Sabias shows the freshness of the year with the ripe, concentrated, powerful house style. You don't really feel the 16.5% alcohol in this wine, and it comes through as full-bodied but balanced, with ripe fruit and tannins and integrated oak after spending 16 months in French oak barrels. It is finer-boned than other years. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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93 Points! The 2020 Angelita del Challao comes from a blend of different vineyards in the three valleys from Labastida, looking for a village wine; it was produced with 85% Tempranillo and the rest Garnacha, Mazuelo, Viura, Garnacha Blanca and other rare varieties from their own vineyards and purchased grapes. It fermented in concrete with indigenous yeasts, 40% full clusters that are foot trodden and the rest uncrushed grapes and matured in 225- and 500-liter barrels and 2,000-liter foudres—10 months with each plot separate—and then it was blended and let to settle in concrete for another 10 months. They look for a more approachable wine than Challao, with more floral aromas in a very elegant and harmonious way. The palate is medium-bodied with medium ripeness, 13.5% alcohol and very good freshness and acidity, balanced and harmonious, very tasty and with elegant, refined tannins. Really very good. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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95 Points! A harmonious red that marries modern pomp with restraint and elegance. Full-bodied and lush, yet fresh and well-defined by sinewy tannins. Features flavors of pureed blackberry, licorice snap, herbed black olive and mocha that expand on the palate, with tarry smoke and loamy earth character. Best from 2023 through 2033. - Wine Spectator

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