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Tantalizing aromas of blueberries, violets, orange peel, raspberry leaf and aniseed with a touch of aromatic herbs that provide freshness. The palate is electric, with pulsing acidity, ultra-fine tannins and very good length. Both rustic and elegant, wild and subtle. It has precision, elegance, balance and life. 94 Points from The Wine Advocate!

Winery: Raul Perez - Ultreia Vitoriana

Vintage: 2022 Country: Spain

Region: Castilla Y Leon

DO: Bierzo

Grape: Mencia, Bastardo, Garnacha Tintorera, Dona Blanca, Palomino Field Blend

Tasting Notes: Perfumed, showy and a little decadent, with notes of decayed violets that are intriguing and attractive. The palate is medium-bodied and reveals very fine, chalky tannins. 96 Points from The Wine Advocate!

Winery: Anza - Carramonte

Vintage: 2022 Country: Spain 

Region: La Rioja

DO: Rioja

Grapes: Mostly Tempranillo with some Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo, Viura and Malvasia Field Blend

Tasting Notes: A compact and stylish red, with chalky underlying tannins tightly meshed to the flavors of black raspberry paste, pomegranate puree and black olive that open nicely in the glass. Expands on the palate, showing fragrant violet, sage, white pepper and paprika notes, plus a streak of minerality that echoes on the finish. 75 cases imported.Diego Magaña is already one of the hottest names in the new generation of young Spanish winemakers, and as great as his wines are, he’s only just getting started.

96 points from The Wine Advocate!

Son of Juan Magaña, whose Viña Magaña estate in Navarra has achieved iconic status over the last four decades, Diego began working alongside his father at the family bodega in the mid-2000s, but in 2014, his love of the wines of Bierzo and his close friendship with Bierzo superstar Raúl Pérez inspired him to strike out on his own, producing tiny quantities of his own Bierzo-DO wines in a corner of Raúl’s bodega.

As a native of Navarra, though, and therefore a next-door neighbor to Rioja, he had long cherished dreams of extending his own winemaking into that hallowed district as well. His family had always owned vines in Alfaro, the chief town of Rioja Baja (or Oriental), but Diego’s love had always been for the nervier, higher-altitude wines of the Alavesa district. It was initially difficult to find fruit there, but in 2016 his dream became reality when he acquired 2.5 hectares of beautiful old vines in the pure white limestone in the heart of the Alavesa. The name of the project:Anza, an homage to his mother, Esperanza (“Hope”) Tejero.

He has since expanded his Rioja holdings to a whopping 4.5 hectares spread among the Alavesa villages of Kripan, Elvillar, and the famed Laguardia. The tiny surface allows him a fastidious level of control over what he calls his ‘gardens’. These tiny plots of bushvines ranging from 30 to 90 years old (most over 50) are of course mostly Tempranillo, but are interspersed with Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo, Viura and Malvasia Riojana. A portion of the surface– typically the oldest vines dedicated to theEspecialbottling– is worked solely by horse traction.

Diego maintains that his goal is to produce the purest, highest-quality, and (most importantly for him) the mostdrinkableRioja possible. To that end, he makes the wines in what he deems a ‘simple, non-technological’ way, although he cautions that ‘the only recipe is that there is no recipe’. Some fairly hard-and-fast rules emerge, such as the fact that the fruit is vinified parcel-by-parcel with indigenous yeasts in old open-tap vats. Macerations are typically around three weeks, and he likes including whole bunches as the harvest permits. (In 2018, that rate was 50-100%, depending on the plot.) The fermented juice ages in used wooden vessels of 225 and 500L (as well as a single 4,000Ltina) according to plot yield, with the final cuvées being blended right before the following harvest after a year (or slightly less) of aging.

These juicy, floral, and captivating wines place the boundlessly energetic and curious young Magaña straight into the top rank of the new Rioja idiom, one respectful of the great terroir and viticultural tradition of the region but unencumbered by the established ‘Crianza-Reserva-Gran Reserva’ hierarchy. It’s exciting to think that he has nowhere to go but up when he’s already operating at this level.

The Anza Rioja 'Carramonte' 2022 is mostly Tempranillo with some Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo with a particularly high percentage (10-12%) of the white varieties Viura and Malvasía Riojana • From Magaña’s oldest parcels, 75 to 90-year-old bushvines in pure limestone, worked entirely by horse • Fermented with indigenous yeast in open-top wood vats with whole bunches as vintage allows • Raised for about a year in used 500L barrels.

Peter Sisseck is one of Spain’s foremost winemakers and experts on biodynamics. The focus is on expressing, to the best humanly possible, the full potential of these amazing old vine plots. Extreme attention to details in all the parts of these wines is paid.

Peter Sisseck’s monumental 1995 Ribera del Duero, from some of the region’s oldest vines, was just that exciting. While other wines from Rioja and Ribera del Duero had acheived international recognition, Pingus was the first wine to transcend traditional Spanish winemaking. Peter had created a great, mammoth, supple testament of a wine—in short, a new archetype. With only a few vintages released, Pingus has already joined that elite club of producers—Raveneau, Chave, Giacosa— whose wines combine a true sense of their origins with fiercely singular personalities.

Peter’s tiny production of fewer than 500 cases comes from three parcels of ancient, head-pruned Tempranillo vines. His true genius may be demonstrated in the vineyard. The gnarled old vines have been carefully husbanded back to health— the trunks straightened, lowered, and pruned back to 1-2 buds per stump. Yields range from a high of 20 to an incredibly low 9 hectoliters per hectare.

After fermentation in steel or large wooden vat, the wines are raised in a mix of new and old French oak. Peter uses as little sulphur as possible. Like a top chef, Peter carefully seasons the young wines, controlling their exposure to oxygen and utilizing lees contact to give the final wines their exotic textures. Yet this simple discussion of techniques cannot begin to explain the final product, a wine Robert Parker has called “extraordinary” and “one of the most outstanding wines produced in Spain.”

This wine represents all of the Pérez Pascuas family’s winemaking expertise. Care and the highest level of demand come together in this wine made with grapes from 80-year-old vineyards, yielding a wine that embodies the essence of the Ribera del Duero.

DESCRIPTION - Variety: 100% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo). Own vineyard. - Goblet pruned / Age: Over 80 years. - Altitude: 840 m. - Soil: clay-limestone. - Harvest: by hand. - Ageing: 26 months in American and French oak barrels. - Resting in bottle: minimum 36 months. - Production: 3.965 bottles of 75 cl - Bottling date: March 2018 - Alcohol content: 14.5%

TASTING NOTES Intense red with some brick red hues. An elegant fruity bouquet of berries and ripe fruits with a high intensity of ageing sensations. On the palate it is broad, powerful and with great volume, soft and round tannins.

CONSERVATION AND PREFERRED CONSUMPTION Serving Temperature: 16-17 0C 20 years potential storage in optimal conditions of 13-14 ºC and 60% relative humidity, without temperature fluctuations.

VINTAGE 2015 The 2015 vintage began in a winter with good water reserves in the subsoil. The warm, dry spring weather continued until June when heavy rainfall coincided with the onset of flowering. Summer brought the odd storm and was followed by a very dry autumn. Although the harvest was slightly earlier than usual, the analytical and organoleptic characteristics as well as the balance of the berries were ideal, which meant the fruit could be harvested at the perfect stage of ripeness. Wines from this excellent vintage have a good colour intensity, significant fruity notes on the nose and a high tannic potential on the palate, with sweet tannins revealing the good phenolic ripening of the berries. This vintage is reminiscent of the exceptional 2005 vintage.

RATINGS

Guía Gourmets 98 Points

Guía Peñín 95 Points

Robert Parket 96 Points

Tim Atkin 96 Points

Vivir el Vino 100 Points