Wines

One of Rioja's brightest new stars. The 2020 was rated 94 from Robert Parker's Luis Gutierrez. This one (not reviewed) is better....

Vineyards: Six different plots all located in Rioja Alavesa at around 600 metres altitude, dating back to the 1940’s. It has a calcareous clay soil and gives low yields of 3500-4000 kg per hectare.

60% Tempranillo, 30% Graciano and 10% Viura

Winemaking: Fermentation takes place in foudre and concrete egg, using indigenous yeasts. The wine ages for approximately 13 months in foudre.

From the winery: Riviera is a beautiful ruby red Pinot Noir, with a slight transpar- ency that showcases the delicate hue of the wine. It boasts an enticing aroma of red fruit, including cherry, raspberry, and strawberry, with subtle undertones of earthiness and spice. Hints of vanilla and oak impart a delicate complexity to the wine. On the palate, Riviera is vibrant and well-balanced, with bright acidity and medium tannins that add structure to the wine. The flavors of cherry and raspberry continue from the nose to the palate, accompanied by notes of black tea and hints of clove and cinnamon.

97 Points! A showstopper of a wine that offers a fragranced nose of purple flowers, blackcurrant, cola and liquorice. Smooth and silky, this has a gorgeous weight and texture, full and filling, a density of chalky, almost chewy tannins but bright, juicy acidity. Excellent construction, delicately layered but builds to an impressive whole that has such allure on the palate. A joyous wine brilliantly delivered. - Decanter Magazine

95+ Points! The 2021 Palmer has turned out beautifully in bottle, wafting from the glass with expressive aromas of blackberries, cherries and mulberries mingled with notions of iris, dark chocolate and spices. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with an enveloping core of succulent fruit framed by rich, sweet tannins, it concludes with a long, expansive finish. It's a blend of 56% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petit Verdot. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate

95 Points! This wine is very fragrant, with blackberries, blueberries, black olives, bark and forest floor as well as some minerals and stone. Medium-bodied with racy and firm tannins that build to a fresh and steely finish. Needs three to five years to soften. You can almost taste the skins. Reminiscent of the 1995 Palmer but with more precision. 56% merlot, 41% cabernet sauvignon and 3% petit verdot. Best after 2028. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Rich character of spiced plums and blackberries with hints of licorice, cured meat and roasted coffee beans. Touch of summer herbs, too. Full-bodied with plush tannins and a velvety texture. Dense and structured with lingering dark fruit and a savory edge. Try after 2023. - JamesSuckling.com

98+ Points! In contrast, the 2021 Syrah Il Padrino Bien Nacido Vineyard is more masculine and feral, with ripe black fruits, cracked black pepper, leather, iron, and spring flowers, and a certain bloody character developing with time in the glass. Medium to full-bodied, it has a similar level of polish but is a touch more concentrated and lengthy on the palate, with ripe, building tannins and awesome length. Drink this spectacular Syrah over the coming 10-12 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points! Gorgeous cool blue fruits, liquorice and salinity on the nose, clean but really expressive. Full and forward, quite intense with plump fruit, however there's great depth and energy. Concentrated and ripe, but also with cool touches of blueberry, cola and wet-stone nuances. Nice energy and focus, streamlined, but this has a great weight with the bite and grip of 2021. Great effort. - Decanter Magazine

96 Points! A very juicy and rounded young 2021 with berry, chocolate, cedar, balsamic, and redwood aromas and flavors. Medium to full body. Velvety tannins. Excellent finish. Extremely well done for the vintage. 79% merlot, 19% cabernet franc and 2% cabernet sauvignon. Best after 2028. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! Very complex with red currants, iodine and iron. Medium-bodied, with a dense yet energetic palate and a long and racy finish showing chalk and gunpowder. Flinty. 52% merlot, 30% cabernet franc and 18% cabernet sauvignon. Tight at the end, suggesting at least four to five years of cellaring. Drink after 2029. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! As to the Grand Vin, the saturated ruby/purple-hued 2021 Château Pavie defies the vintage with its ripe, powerful aromatics of cassis, toasted spice, chalky minerality, graphite, and hints of truffly earth. A rich, medium to full-bodied, concentrated, incredibly textured 2021, it has velvety tannins, no hard edges, and a gorgeous finish. It's a testament to the talent and work of this incredible team and is up with the crème de la crème of the vintage. The 2021 is based on 52% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, brought up in a mix of new and used barrels, hitting 14.14% alcohol and a pH of 3.67. It’s going to age for 20-25 years if well stored. - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! This wine has a tightness and linear energy, with red currants, herbs, plums and hints of dark chocolate. Medium-bodied with beautiful integration and length. Racy and focused. Just the right amount of wood and fruit with tannins. Second wine of Chateau Margaux. 73% cabernet sauvignon, 18% merlot, 5% petit verdot and 4% cabernet franc. - JamesSuckling.com

100 Points! Tasted with Lisa and Philip Togni in their winery atop Spring Mountain in February of 2024. An absolutely riveting Cabernet showing a deep ruby-purple colour. Gorgeously fragrant at the cork's pull with terrific violets and loads of black currants and dark dried herbs. Medium to full-bodied with chiselled, precise tannins that build and build on the palate. At this early stage, the wine is full of ripe blackberry and black currant fruits that harbour impressive clarity of flavours, growing even more expressive with beautiful sagebrush nuances. Philipp Togni remarked that this vintage reminds him of St. Julien. Indeed, it is incredibly aromatic, elegant, and structured, and it is also a complete and seamless wine. 82% Cabernet Sauvignon is joined by 15% Merlot, 2% Cabernet France, and 1% Petit Verdot. - Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine

99 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is an outrageously beautiful wine and also one of the wines of the year. A soaring, exotic bouquet makes a strong opening statement. Pliant and creamy, with mind-blowing textural finesse, the 2021 dazzles from start to finish. Hard candy, mint, lavender, Kirsch and spice linger on the close. The 2021 possesses mind-blowing purity and exceptional finesse. (Drink between 2031-2051). - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

97 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is blended with 15% Merlot and traces of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it bursts from the glass with bold notions of blackcurrant jelly, juicy black plums, and wild blueberries followed by hints of crushed rocks, cardamom, licorice, and tar plus a fragrant touch of violets. The medium-bodied palate is tightly wound with black fruit and mineral layers, framed by firm, ripe, grainy tannins and wonderful tension, finishing long with loads of ferrous and earthy sparks. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

100 Points! Tasted with Lisa and Philip Togni in their winery atop Spring Mountain in February of 2024. An absolutely riveting Cabernet showing a deep ruby-purple colour. Gorgeously fragrant at the cork's pull with terrific violets and loads of black currants and dark dried herbs. Medium to full-bodied with chiselled, precise tannins that build and build on the palate. At this early stage, the wine is full of ripe blackberry and black currant fruits that harbour impressive clarity of flavours, growing even more expressive with beautiful sagebrush nuances. Philipp Togni remarked that this vintage reminds him of St. Julien. Indeed, it is incredibly aromatic, elegant, and structured, and it is also a complete and seamless wine. 82% Cabernet Sauvignon is joined by 15% Merlot, 2% Cabernet France, and 1% Petit Verdot. - Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine

99 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is an outrageously beautiful wine and also one of the wines of the year. A soaring, exotic bouquet makes a strong opening statement. Pliant and creamy, with mind-blowing textural finesse, the 2021 dazzles from start to finish. Hard candy, mint, lavender, Kirsch and spice linger on the close. The 2021 possesses mind-blowing purity and exceptional finesse. (Drink between 2031-2051). - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

97 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is blended with 15% Merlot and traces of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it bursts from the glass with bold notions of blackcurrant jelly, juicy black plums, and wild blueberries followed by hints of crushed rocks, cardamom, licorice, and tar plus a fragrant touch of violets. The medium-bodied palate is tightly wound with black fruit and mineral layers, framed by firm, ripe, grainy tannins and wonderful tension, finishing long with loads of ferrous and earthy sparks. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

95 Points! Tasted with Lisa and Philip Togni in their winery atop Spring Mountain in February of 2024. The Tanbark Hill was bottled in June of 2023. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged up to 20 months. The tannins are quite assertive at this young stage, in classic Spring Mountain Togni fashion, with a fine granularity about them. The wine feels quite complete, teeming with pure dark berry fruits and very fresh. Deeply mineral-tinged dark berries and black currants are framed by a wine with noticeable coiled-up energy and tension. It’s mostly mouthfeel at this stage and will soften with a few more years. - Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter Magazine

93 Points! The medium to full-bodied 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Tanbark Hill Vineyard delivers complex notes of mountain fruit, with hints of sage and bay leaf accenting cassis, blueberries and raspberries. In the mouth, it's firmly buttressed by grainy tannins, with terrific acids that linger on the finish in mouthwatering fashion. This, Togni's "early-drinking" wine, should age two decades with ease. -  Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com

93 Points! The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Tanbark Hill Vineyard is one of the most potent vintages of this wine I can remember tasting. Dense and textured, the 2021 shows ample dark fruit and complex earthy/savory undertones that add balance. The 2021 benefits from the addition of some excess fruit that would have been used in the main label but that, for practical purposes, ended up in the tanks for the Tanbark Hill. Readers will find a wine of breadth, power and character. In this vintage, the Tanbark Hill gives a very good idea of the quality and style of the Grand Vin. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

The estate’s “baby” Chambertin! With vines more than 70 years old and soils just as noble as those of premier cru vineyards just a stone’s throw upslope, ‘Clos Village’ is really the heart and soul of Gevrey. Round and harmonious, with plush purple fruits and an abundance of silk. Winemaker Damien Livera can walk from his cellar door directly into the heart of ‘Clos Village.’

94 Points! The 2021 Poggio de Colli, 100% Cabernet Franc, is stunning. It’s peppery and floral throughout, with masses of crushed strawberry and raspberry spiced up by tangerine zest. This impresses further with its wiry textures offset by tantalizing acidity. A core of tart wild berry fruit cascades across the palate, underscored by saline minerals and hints of citrus. Fine-grained tannins emerge through the finish as the 2021 tapers off spicy yet fresh, leaving the mouth watering despite its structure and intensity. This is a ripe vintage for Poggio de Colli, yet it is still a glorious Cabernet Franc that will pay dividends in the cellar. - Eric Guido, Vinous Media

97 Points! The 2021 Carmignano Riserva Piaggia takes its time in the glass, tempting the imagination with dried violets and flowery underbrush that evolve into peppery wild berries, autumnal spices and a dusting of cocoa. Elegant and velvety in feel, this sweeps across the palate, gaining contrast through a core of mineral-inflected yet pleasantly ripe red and black fruits. Tantalizing acidity guides the experience. The 2021 finishes with dramatic length and concentration, leaving a bitter blackberry resonance to mingle with edgy tannins, while a hint of blood orange forces the mouth to water for more. The contrasting nature and sheer depth of the 2021 leave me in awe. Bury this deep in the cellar.

The Piaggia vineyard was planted in 1972. The only changes this wine has seen since then, other than the age of the vines, took place in 2004 when the winery switched from using 100% new Garbellotto barrels to a mix of 50% new and 50% second-pass oak. This was a fantastic tasting that showed the prestige of this location and demonstrated the remarkable value of the Piaggia Riserva. It’s a blue chip in the cellar. - Eric Guido, Vinous Media

96 Points! Dark and brooding in bearing, the 2021 Pichon Baron is a somber, mysterious wine. It is every bit as impressive as it was en primeur. Graphite, leather, spice, mocha and dried herbs meld together in a wine of power, precision and contemporary classicism. It's one of my early favorites in this vintage. I won't be too surprised if it turns out even better than this note suggests. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

95 Points! The 2021 Pichon-Longueville Baron is showing very well in bottle, unwinding in the glass with notes of cassis, sweet berries and violets mingled with subtle hints of orange zest and cigar wrapper. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered, with good depth at the core, bright acids and sweet tannins that assert themselves on the gently structured finish, its serious, slightly reserved profile reflects the unusually high (89%) percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2021 concluded its élevage in large wooden vats for a month and a half, saw a touch less racking than normal, and was only fined with a small amount of gelatin, not egg white, as has been the rule at this address for several years now. - William Kelley, robertparker.com

95 Points! Black currant, violet, lemon blossom and black berry aromas. Full-bodied, with chewy tannins and tobacco, black fruit and cedar undertones. It’s tight and chewy, suggesting it needs some bottle age. Some iodine. Oyster shell. 88% cabernet sauvignon. Give this four to five years. Try after 2027. - JamesSuckling.com

98 Points! The 2021 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is a towering wine. Just as it did en primeur, the 2021 dazzles from start to finish. The Cabernets are very high in the blend, and that comes through in a Saint-Julien endowed with ton of explosive vertical lift. Lavender, dried herbs, mint, spice, rose petal and a kick of orange peel are some of the notes that run through this striking Pichon Comtesse. The aromatics alone are compelling, but everything about the 2021 speaks to class personified. Bright saline notes extend the finish. In a word: sublime. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

97 Points! Fantastic aromas of blackberries, blackcurrants and graphite. Metal shavings. It's medium-bodied, with a classy center-palate of fruit and fine, velvety tannins leading to an almost endless finish. This has so much class, especially for the vintage. Very low production. Drink after 2028. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! The 2021 Syrah Santa Barbara County is scented of black raspberries, candied blackberries, cracked pepper, smoked meats and green olive. The medium-bodied palate is bright and chalky with restrained yet nuanced fruit and a long, latent finish. I would be inclined to drink it on the earlier side after a couple hours in a decanter, and its freshness will allow it to pair widely at the table. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com