Spain

94 Points! The only white produced here is the 2020 Viñas de Gaín Blanco, which is balsamic and aromatic, floral and herbaceous, from a fresher and more elegant vintage. It fermented with some skins to give it complexity and volume, but he has reduced the time the wine is in contact with the skins, and this year, the wine finished part of the fermentation in used 600-liter demi-muids and was kept in stainless steel with lees for two years. They have stopped racking the white, and they feel it keeps a livelier character. It has the profile of the traditional Rioja whites with a modern twist, cleaner, more focused and precise. It has a moderate 13% alcohol, a pH of 3.31 and 6.05 grams of sugar, fresh and vibrant. It's beautiful, possibly the best year for the white and a year they think was better for the white than for the reds. Bravo! - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94+ Points! The very young and pale white 2024 Txuria has a serious and stony nose. It was produced with grapes from small dry-farmed plots in different locations—Dicastillo (490 meters above sea level) and Andosilla (395 meters above sea level) in Navarra and Ábalos (550 meters above sea level) in Rioja—on sandy and silty soils with clay and limestone. It fermented in stainless steel without malolactic and was kept with the lees, 50% in stainless steel and the rest in used 400-liter French oak barrels. It has great purity, elegance, focus, clarity and balance. It comes in at a moderate 12.5% alcohol, with surprising freshness (pH 3.09) and high acidity (6.7 grams). This is stunning...- Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94+ Points! The red 2024 Matas Altas Tinto is a pure Monastrell from different old vineyards (the same ones used for the 2023), the youngest of which dates from 1967, all ungrafted and dry farmed in their village Fuente-Álamo and planted with field blends, mostly Monastrell but with other varieties, on limestone soils with different textures: marl, sand and gravel. It fermented with 10% full clusters—the same for all the reds from this vintage—and indigenous yeasts. It's the youngest of the reds and has a clean, perfumed and elegant nose, not really fruity, more austere/stony but still the gentler of the reds. They want to pick the grapes when they are ripe to give them time to develop aromas and flavors. Here, they also want to expand the élevage to 18 months, but in 2024, it was only one winter, in 8,000-liter oak foudres and some barrels. It's fine-boned and balanced, with abundant, chalky tannins, and it's more powerful than the 2023. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92 Points! Racy red bramble berries with notes of hibiscus, pomegranates, cochineal and cherries. Some chewy tannins add more gravity to the otherwise medium-bodied palate. Juicy, firm and stony in the medium-long finish. - JamesSuckling.com

91 Points! A fresh, balanced red, with fragrant hints of dried rosemary and thyme, resin, and milled pepper accenting the core of creamy black raspberry and black plum fruit, enmeshed with fine, taut tannins. Stony finish. Garnacha, Samsó, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. - Wine Spectator

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

94+ Points! The single-vineyard red 2018 Finca Valdepoleo follows the line of the 2016, two cooler years. It's a fairly large plot that was planted in 1973 in the village of Laguardia on limestone and clay soils at 630 meters in altitude. It fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and also with some stems (something they don't normally do), and it matured in French oak barrels for one year. The finesse of this wine captured me, and I believe this is the finest vintage for this vineyard bottling. When I poured the whole range and had a quick look at all the wines, this one made me raise my eyebrows. It's elegant, subtle and pure, floral and aromatic, really expressive and captivating. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins and nicely integrated oak. It's a modern version of the 2013. Truly outstanding. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

93 Points! Figs, sous-bois, spice and cedar, with dark blackcurrant fruit, lively acidity and fresh, firm tannins. Refined and mellow, silky and complex. A good example of a fully mature Rioja. - Pedro Ballesteros MW, Sarah Jane Evans MW, Pierre Mansour, Decanter Magazine, 22 Nov. 2023

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

91 Points! A lively, seductive and salty white with aromas of fresh lemons, dried herbs and a hint of iodine. Medium-bodied with crisp acidity, it’s bright and full of verve, featuring a dry, driven and succulent finish. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! Even more outstanding than the 2020, the incredibly priced 2021 Reserva is young in boisterous blue fruit, with a generous, full-bodied palate of richness and upfront power. The tannins add length and breadth to the wine, which is tasting great and could go another 10-15 years. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

96 Points! Elegant yet perfectly structured, this is the most floral of the Murrieta Reservas I’ve tasted in recent years. With 8% Graciano and 4% Mazuelo, the nose is perfumed with pretty rose petal and delicate red berry fruit, as well as wild herbal aromas. Blueberry fruit typical of Tempranillo directs the palate, rounded out with a little fleshy Garnacha, and framed by subtle American oak. It offers immediate appeal but will age gracefully for many years to come. - Decanter Magazine

95 Points! Their flagship wine comes from one of the finest vintages in recent times. The 2021 Marqués de Murrieta was previously called the Reserva and still qualifies as such, but it's not included in the name now. It was produced with 86% Tempranillo, 8% Graciano, 4% Mazuelo and 2% Garnacha Tinta from their 300 hectares of vines in their Ygay estate on limestone and clay soils with alluvial influence. The grapes were picked between the 27th of September and the 15th of October, and each plot and variety was vinified separately in stainless steel, matured in American oak barrels for 26 months, then blended and kept in concrete for a few months until bottling, which was a longer élevage this year. It's very spicy, peppery, with a combination of berry fruit and some incipient tertiary aromas, hints of forest floor and truffle. It's very Rioja, with clout, elegance and freshness and the elegant tannins that are the signature of 2021. It comes in at 14.3% alcohol with a pH of 3.6, denoting ripeness and balance. It's delicious, fresh and available. Bravo! - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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

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

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

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

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

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