Spain

97+ Points! The expressive, complex and nuanced 2016 Prado Enea Gran Reserva is a textbook traditional Rioja in the making. 2016 was a very elegant year, with aging potential, volume and very good acidity and freshness. It's full-bodied but fine-boned, has 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.6 and 5.25 grams per liter acidity. It has terrific balance, with all the components in the right proportion to age superbly in bottle. They have also been working on the selection of wood used. This wine matured in French and American oak barrels for three years, and the oak is super integrated. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

97 Points! Spiced red and black fruits, new saddle leather, smoky tobacco, and lead pencil are just some of the nuances in the 2016 Prado Enea Gran Reserva, a pure, medium to full-bodied, flawlessly balanced, beautifully textured Rioja from this team. With beautiful yet building tannins, a pure, focused style, and awesome length on the finish, it's a brilliant wine with a solid two decades of prime drinking ahead of it. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! Complex aromas of dark fruit with violets, walnuts and chocolate. Classy. It's full-bodied with plush yet fine velvety tannins, and a precise and pointed finish. Juicy and savory. Tight finish. It's very long. This is beautiful now but will be even better in three or four years. Linear and vertical at the same time. Try after 2026. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The super bargain of the portfolio has to be the red 2017 Viña Cubillo Tinto Crianza, which this year shows more development and faster aging, with more tertiary notes than the other reds from 2013 and 2014 that I tasted next to it. The frost of April 2017 killed 100% of the vegetal mass at Cubillo, and the grapes they picked were exclusively from the second generation, therefore fruit that ripened in a much shorter cycle, as the harvest was also earlier. It has notes of damp earth, mushrooms, truffles and forest floor, dry leaves and decayed flowers and herbs. It has a polished palate and is medium-bodied, with mostly resolved tannins, and it feels a little lighter. But it's still worth it. It was produced with a blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 5% each Graciano and Mazuelo from vines averaging 53 years of age. It fermented in their old oak vats and matured in used American oak barrels for three+ years. It has 13.5% alcohol, a 3.0 pH and 6.5 grams of acidity. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

96 Points! Savory berries, plums, iron, minerals, tobacco, ink and blood oranges. Very bright, juicy and structured, with sensational balance, aged savoriness and brightness that are typical of Tondonia reds. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! The 2012 Viña Tondonia Reserva comes from a very dry year, with 25% less rain than the average (at the time), resulting in lower yields of very healthy grapes that delivered wines with nice balance between alcohol and polyphenols, making it very apt for the aging in barrel. It had a slightly longer élevage in barrel, six years. The wine is aromatic with a developed profile, spicy and tertiary (forest floor, a touch of brick dust and iodine), complex and nuanced. The palate is full and round, with polished tannins and a long, dry finish. It has a textbook Tondonia nose and profile. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

95 Points! Viña Tondonia can seem austere in its (comparative) youth, especially when compared with sweeter Bosconia, but this is a wine that will reward patience. Picked earlier to assuage the effect of a warmer site, this blend of Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 5% each of Graciano and Mazuelo is structured and focused, with redcurrant, forest floor and green herb notes. Give it time. 2025-32. - Tim Atkins, MW

95 Points! The 2012 Viña Tondonia is a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano, cultivated on the meander of the Ebro River in Rioja Alta. This garnet wine reveals aromas of ash and plum marmalade, with a faintly herbal core and hints of oaky cedar. Dry and lean, the fairly chalky texture lingers long, concluding with a compact, flavorful and lasting finish. The 2012 is a beautiful old-school Rioja. - Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous

98 Points!  The NV Pedro Ximenez Solera 1927 is non-vintage, but does have some 1927 material in it. This is totally dark brown/amber with notes of figs, toffee, caramel syrup, molasses and coffee. It is dense, super sweet, intense, rich and an amazingly, unctuously textured, thick beverage to consume slowly and introspectively after a meal. Drink now through 2050, or even longer. -  Robert Parker, eRobertParker.com, November 2015

92 Points! A very attractive, medium-bodied Amontillado with a slew of dried fruit and a delicate hint of toffee. Elegant and dry with just a hint of bitterness that the rich flavors balance very nicely. Very clean finish. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! The aromatics of the 2023 Evodia give justice to the name, which in old Greek means "fragrance," and it has high-lifted aromatics, floral, elegant and ethereal. In 2023, they used 15% full clusters for the fermentation, and the élevage was in concrete, with 20% in used 225-liter barrels and 10% in oak vats, and lasted five months. It has a bright ruby color and an extroverted nose. This is ripe, hedonistic and outspoken, showy and juicy, with very good ripeness and 14.8% alcohol, but it comes through as balanced with a pH of 3.68 and 6.1 grams of acidity. You just want to keep smelling it as it unfurls in the glass. The quality is clearly beyond its price point; it's an amazing value for money. One to buy by the truckload!  - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

93 Points! The 2022 Silver Label now shows the name on the label (and also "Etiqueta Plateada" in Spanish). It's their first wine in their new era, which started in 2002, a wine that aims to promote the quality and potential of Monastrell. It matured in new and second-use French oak barrels for one year, but they were looking for lower toast and less impact of the wood in the wine than earlier vintages when it was 100% new oak. It has a paler color and a subtler and more floral nose, keeping the poise and showing surprisingly fresh for the conditions of the year. It's ripe, reflecting the warm and dry weather, with 15% alcohol but very good freshness, coming through as balanced and harmonious, clean and pure. This is a bargain and a success for the year, a champion in drinkability. Bravo! - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92 Points! The textbook traditional red 2019 Señorío de P. Peciña Crianza was produced with their classical blend of Tempranillo with small percentages of Garnacha and Graciano. It fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and matured in used American oak barrels following the most orthodox tradition, for two years, a lot longer than required to obtain the category. It has spicy notes, a hint of cigar box and forest floor and is a powerful and ripe year, when the wine achieved 14.36% alcohol and good freshness and acidity. It has a medium to full-bodied palate with a chalky mouthfeel, fine tannins and a slightly dusty and rustic touch that would welcome food. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

90 Points! Oregano and tobacco front the nose with savoury expressiveness, led by blood orange, Earl Grey and bergamot. There's firm, herbal grip from strong, round tannins. Subtle florality adds elegant top notes to the otherwise intense, dark core. A great-value wine, perfect for more than everyday drinking. - Decanter Magazine

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

#ArzuagaTrio

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

#ArzuagaTrio

94+ Points! The 2019 Finca Terrerazo has similar parameters to the 2018 I tasted next to it: 14% alcohol, a slightly lower pH (3.542) and higher acidity (6.15 grams measured in tartaric acid). It also fermented in 3,500- and 5,000-liter oak vats with indigenous yeasts and a soft extraction, and it had an élevage in those containers of 18 months. There is a step up in precision here, quite noticeable when tasting it next to the 2018. It's subtle, elegant and insinuating. It was a very good vintage for this wine. In 2018, the vineyards suffered from hail, and the wine shows more clarity here, it's more transparent and pure, it has symmetry and very fine tannins. This has to be the finest Finca Terrerazo so far. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

100% Garnacha from the Dama parcel planted in 1903 at 650m ASL in San Martín de Unx • fermented spontaneously in tank • raised for 36 months in neutral 500L and 600L French oak 

93 Points! The first vintage released by Rafael Perez when he took over the estate, this is 100% Garnacha fermented in stainless steel and then aged for 24 months in French barrels of different sizes. It is a very pretty and elegant red with lavender and mint aromas reminiscent of the surrounding forest of San Mart¡n de Unx. The palate is direct with vertical acidity but enough generosity and juicy wild strawberry fruit. A well crafted wine. - Tim Atkin, MW

92 Points! The white 2023 Blanco was produced with 85% Viura, 15% Garnacha Blanca and 5% Tempranillo Blanco, which is the taste they have found works for them, without adding yeasts and putting the wine through malolactic fermentation and using some skin contact for the fermentation. They use grapes from eight vineyards, most of them from the Montes Obarenes, except a little bit from Remelluri. In 2022, a very warm and dry year with a tendency toward less acidity and higher pH, they decided to use less skin contact, perhaps 10%. They aged the wine in concrete, oak vats and 500-liter barrels, working the lees less and less as the élevage advances. Despite everything, it has a moderate 12.8% alcohol and a pH of 3.29, a clean and floral nose, with perhaps some hints of yellow fruit, and a tender and velvety palate with tasty flavors and a dry and chalky finish. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

95 Points! From a slightly more challenging year for the region, the 2020 Muga Selección Especial checks in as 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, and the rest Graciano and Mazuelo that's aged six months in new French barrique, followed by two full years in older French and American (70/30) oak barriques. Rocking levels of cassis and black raspberry-like fruit as well as graphite, spicy wood, violets, and lead pencil notes all shine on the nose, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a round, layered mouthfeel, and silky tannins. It's already hard to resist. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

94 Points! Their most gastronomical red is the 2020 Selección Especial, a blend of the four traditional varieties from Rioja—Tempranillo, Garnacha Tinta, Mazuelo and Graciano—fermented in oak vats. Half of the destemmed grapes were put through an optical sorting machine. The wine matured in French oak barrels, 40% of them new, for 26 months and was racked every eight to nine months. 2020 was a warm year, and the wine comes in at 14.5% alcohol, with a pH of 3.56 and 5.75 grams of acidity. Manu Muga likes 2020 very much and says it's a year that suffers because it's in between 2019 and 2021. This is also a textbook example of this wine, a little more developed and tertiary, with generous spice and toast and a palate with more grip. The tannins are not as precise and elegant as those from 2021 (yeah, it suffers in the comparison), but it's a very worthy wine. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

93 Points! The 2020 Selección Especial Muga is Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano. This aged for 26 months in 40% new French oak. Concentrated, with aromas of sour cherry, plum, fine oak, cedar and herbal notes, it's dry in the mouth with plush tannins and well-defined fruit. The tackiness adds structure and promises good aging potential.-  Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous

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

94 Points! The 2022 Pepe Luis shows the warmer and drier year with a more Mediterranean profile, notes of dry herbs and nutty touch. The palate is round and gentle but has the granite granularity that gives it a dry, chalky mouthfeel. It has 13% alcohol with a pH of 3.26 and 5.9 grams of acidity, lower than usual. This had a much longer élevage of 17 months in oak foudre, but the wine is not oaky. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! The nose of the 2023 Alma de Mar is very leesy and smoky, with a very austere, chalky palate with a strong sensation of granite and sea breeze. It comes from grapes grown very close to the sea, and the wine tends to be quite vibrant but also has structure and volume. 3,000 bottles produced. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com