Spain

94 Points! The grapes for the 2021 Reserva (sold as Crianza in Spain), mostly Tempranillo with some Garnacha Tinta, Mazuelo and Graciano, were picked late in a cooler year when they finished the harvest the 20th of October, with plenty of times for the grapes to develop full aromas and flavors and complete ripeness. It fermented destemmed and lightly crushed in oak vats with indigenous yeasts, separating qualities, villages and soils, and matured in 80% French and 20% American oak barrels, 20% of them new, for 24 months, with racking every eight to nine months. It's a textbook example of their style in a very good year, with power, concentration and clout, elegance and freshness. It was a very harmonious year; the cycle was long and the tannins ripened to perfection. It's terrific... - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! The winery’s flagship, the wine that introduced Muga to the world, the 2021 Muga Reserva is Tempranillo-dominant, with Garnacha, Mazuelo, and Graciano filling in the gaps. A larger-production wine, it offers tremendous quality, fermented in wooden vats using indigenous yeasts, the grapes separated by quality, soil type, and village origin. This one in particular is from a beautiful vintage and practically beams in full-bodied concentration, with supple, silky tannins and light touches of oak spice, cedar, balsamic, and white pepper. A new release, it should continue to thrive another 15-20 years. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

99 Points! The red 2023 Kalamity is stunning, in line with the wine produced in 2021. It's a wine first produced in 2014 from a field blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Viura and Garnacha Blanca from very old vines in Elvillar, Laguardia and Camprovín harvested relatively early to avoid excess alcohol and to keep the acidity. The grapes were part destemmed, part crushed and part fermented with full clusters in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts. The wine matured in 600-liter oak barrels for 10 months. Like most 2023s, it has contained ripeness and lowish alcohol, 13.5%, and a balanced pH of 3.5. Tartalo has been getting close, but I still believe this is the most complex, nuanced and complete of the reds here, perfumed and elegant. It's still young but already very harmonious, with a medium-bodied palate, super fine tannins and superb balance. This could very well be the finest Kalamity to date. It's approachable even at this young age, but it should also develop and get even better with time in bottle. 3,200 bottles were filled in September 2024. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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

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

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

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

97 Points! I like the intensity to this, with dark tar and smoky notes followed by graphite, tobacco, bitter cacao and dark fruit. Powerful yet tight and compact, with firm and polished tannins. Structured and so long. Tasted from magnum. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! This is at once fresh and elegant on first impression, with lovely hints of fragrant Turkish bazaar spices, game and dried mint lacing the crème de cassis, violet, and black and red licorice notes. Gliding across the palate, buoyed by fresh acidity and sculpted tannins, this expands to show deep notes of tarry smoke, fig cake, espresso and iron alongside the appealing fruit and spice. Long and creamy, offering both power and grace. Tinto Fino and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2037. - Alison Napjus, Wine Spectator

92 Points! A harmonious red that leans toward traditional in style without forsaking its concentration or fruit expression. An overtone of tobacco, vanilla and milled white pepper is a fragrant thread winding through ripe and juicy black cherry and plum fruit, framed by refined, supple tannins. Hints of leather, red licorice and wild thyme play on the fresh, focused finish. Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo. - Wine Spectator

92+ Points! They are changing the wines to be careful with the extraction, to keep the freshness from the high-altitude vineyards and control the alcohol level, which is already visible in the 2021 Montecastro, even if the wine finished at 14.8% when they picked the grapes at 14% (it will be seen in future years, when they picked grapes at 13.5%). It's 97% Tempranillo and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon that fermented in concrete and matured in French oak barrels, 20% of them new, for 16 months. It's dark, with ripe dark berry fruit and measured oak in the shape of spices and toast, nicely integrated and with some creaminess. It is fresh (with a pH of 3.6), modern and clean, with some opulence. It has a velvety, tender texture and is elegant and polished, with round tannins. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92+ Points! The 2022 Las Uvas de la Ira is Garnacha from seven vineyards in El Real de San Vicente, fermented separately and separating according to the health of the skins, with shorter and longer macerations, and matured in concrete and oak vats and foudres (50/50, approximately). It has the profile of the year, with slightly riper fruit, 14.5% alcohol and slightly dusty tannins.- Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

95 Points! Black berries, dark mushrooms, cloves and slate on the nose follow through to the palate with a medium body, soft and silky tannins and an attractive finish. Lovely tannin tension at the end. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

92+ Points! The 2020 Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos de San Vicente de la Sonsierra is more fruit-driven, primary and perfumed than most of the other bottlings, juicier, with a sensation of higher ripeness (despite having lower alcohol, 13.79%) and slightly dusty tannins. The breakdown here was 88% Tempranillo, 10% Garnacha and 2% other varieties. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92+ Points! The white 2022 Terroir Històric Blanc is the regional wine that blends grapes from nine different villages, 75% Garnacha Blanca and 25% Macabeo from different soils, slate, clay, granite and alluvial. The bunches fermented for three to five days in stainless steel, and the wine matured in stainless steel for six months. It has 13% alcohol and mellow acidity, 4.5 grams. It has a spectacular nose that is very expressive, aromatic, clean and open with pungent notes of pollen and beeswax. It's juicy, round and clean with persistent and pungent flavors, not very high in acidity, eminently Mediterranean. Really impressive. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92+ Points! The 2019 Terroir Históric is charming, approachable, round, open and expressive, with good ripeness and 14% alcohol, a juicy palate with a soft mouthfeel and round tannins. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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

97 Points! There is a new superb pure Giró from old vines, from the upper two terraces of the Abargues property, first produced in the perfect Mediterranean vintage of 2020. The 2020 Fierroca takes the name from two words, "fierro"( which means iron) and "roca" (which means rock"), the components of the soils here. The grapes have less color but lots of grip, and the wine is floral, elegant, terribly balanced, tasty and ripe without excess, with a velvety texture and long, pure fresh and fine flavors. This is amazing! It matured in two 500-liter French oak barrels for 10 months. 1,300 bottles were filled in August 2021. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92 Points! The new young red 2021 El Predilecto recovers Predilecto, which was a historic brand of the house, a wine with less aging than the rest and more fruity character. In this case, they want it to show the fruit expression of the vineyard without oak. They call it the new old concept in Rioja, what the wines used to be before the arrival of the French, pure fruit. It's a blend of 65% Garnacha from Cárdenas and Cordovín and 35% Tempranillo from Samaniego that fermented destemmed but uncrushed (so not exactly a carbonic maceration) with clean and fresh aromas and flavors. It's ripe and hedonistic, with 14.5% alcohol and good freshness. It matured in concrete for five months. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92 Points! The light red 2021 Follaco was produced with a blend of ancient Juan García (80- to 100-year-old vines) and young Tempranillo (15-year-old vines) from gravelly soils with quartz, granite and slate picked early (the wine is 11% alcohol). It matured in well-seasoned, seven- to 12-year-old French oak barrels for 10 months. It has a bright ruby color and a bright and expressive nose of red berries and flowers. It's clean, light, fresh and very pleasant with vibrant flavors of acid berries. A bargain. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92+ Points! I was quite surprised by the complexity and nuance of the 2020 Matsanko, despite being very young. It fermented with full clusters and semi-carbonic maceration and matured in barrel for five months. It's a blend of old-vine Garnacha (75%), Tempranillo (15%) and Viura (10%). It's elegant, serious and somehow austere, with good ripeness (14.5% alcohol) and concentration, abundant fine-grained tannins and good depth. 1,239 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2021...Aseginolaza & Leunda is one of the new names from Navarra worth following. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com