Spain

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Alvaro Palacios Finca Dofi 2019
£60.75
“The single-vineyard red 2019 Finca Dofí comes from the 14 hectares of vines planted across three parajes (lieu-dits) in Gratallops. This year, it’s 87% Garnacha, 12% Cariñena and 1% white grapes (Garnacha Blanca and Macabeo. It fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in large oak barrels (bocoyes and foudres) for 14 months. It’s classy, elegant and fresh with very clean aromas and flavors, not lacking concentration or power. There is superb definition and purity here; it has to be the finest and most elegant Dofí to date. It has finer tannins and more elegance than La Baixada this year. The 2018 was fragrant and this has more clout but superb balance. These two vintages have been great for Dofí. I still remember the 2005, hard as nails then and what the wine is now—spherical and velvety. Dofí on a roll… It was bottled in May 2021, and 21,146 bottles were produced. Drink: 2022-2030. 97 points
Climate is certainly getting extreme, and in Priorat, we saw an incredibly warm (up to 43 degrees Celsius!) and dry 2019 (with only 280 liters of rain) and a 2020 with 800 liters of rain! But so much rain and the warm temperatures can only end up in a huge mildew attack. The rest of the season was extremely warm, to the point that ended it up being their earliest harvest ever! Year of extremes… year in and year out! Both years were higher in Garnacha and lower in Cariñena, in 2019 because of the heat and in 2020 because of mildew. So, the wines are more Garnacha driven than ever. For Álvaro Palacios, the highlights of the 2019 vintage (I only tasted Camins from 2020) were the Finca Dofí and L’Ermita. The Dofí was classy, elegant and fresh with very clean aromas and flavors, but L’Ermita was truly captivating, quite different from the 2013, an extreme year, perhaps in an opposite way but truly exceptional. It deserved my highest rating, as my heart started beating faster as I put my nose in the glass. Bravo!”
Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate (07/21)
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Bodegas Tradicion Amontillado VORS
£64.95
“The NV Tradicion Amontillado VORS, certainly has the more complex and subtle nose of all these VORS and is on average 45 years old. It has a very clean nose, with elegance and complexity, powerful but subtle notes of hazelnuts, honey and even some dates. The medium-bodied palate shows a sharp wine with strong salinity, it has the power and the lightness, in a very difficult combination. 96 points
Bodegas Tradicion, despite its name, is one of the youngest wineries in Jerez, it was created in 1998, something not so common, as most of the houses have been in operation for generations. It’s also unusual for a winery to sell exclusively old wines, even more so when it’s a young operation. But this is what Bodegas Tradicion is about. They purchased wines (botas and soleras) from everybody, Osborne, Bobadilla, Croft, Domecq, Sandeman? In the beginning they had maybe 200 botas, and now they own around 1,000. The market at the time when they started was extremely hard for Sherry, and trying to sell a new name, and exclusively old wines, was almost impossible. In 2003 they sold a grand total of 600 bottles, whereas nowadays they sell 18,000-20,0000 bottles per year. They kind of started the other way round, selling only VORS (and one VOS), and working their way towards younger wines to feed their soleras. They have now even released a Fino (a very old Fino, but a Fino after all), and they explained that even though they started buying very old soleras, they are now in need of younger wines, and they do not rule out the need to even purchase their own vineyards in the future. A Benjamin Button kind of winery! The wines are in charge of Jose Maria Quiros, who was winemaker at Agustin Blazquez and later at Domecq and has been a consultant for Alvear in Montilla-Moriles for 15 years. His aim is to preserve traditions and keep the wines as pure and true to their style as possible, and they come through as clean, elegant, precise, well-defined, focused, true to their type and indeed traditional. All wines have a hand-written lot number and year on the label.”
Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate (208)
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Bodegas Tradicion Oloroso VORS
£62.99
“The single vintage wines are different, but they are not necessarily better than the solera wines. In fact I preferred the Oloroso VORS to the two single-vintage; I found it more complex and fluid, while the single vintages were more concentrated and powerful, but not as nuanced. I’m talking about the NV Tradicion Oloroso VORS, on average 45-50 years old, which gives the wine a concentration of glycerin and dry extract that is amazing. Silky, very interesting to see the wine that has been blended over the years is more complex. The proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove, it is full-bodied, and still follows the same, clean, elegant, precise line of the rest of the wines from Tradicion. Drink 2013-2025. 95 points
Bodegas Tradicion, despite its name, is one of the youngest wineries in Jerez, it was created in 1998, something not so common, as most of the houses have been in operation for generations. It’s also unusual for a winery to sell exclusively old wines, even more so when it’s a young operation. But this is what Bodegas Tradicion is about. They purchased wines (botas and soleras) from everybody, Osborne, Bobadilla, Croft, Domecq, Sandeman? In the beginning they had maybe 200 botas, and now they own around 1,000. The market at the time when they started was extremely hard for Sherry, and trying to sell a new name, and exclusively old wines, was almost impossible. In 2003 they sold a grand total of 600 bottles, whereas nowadays they sell 18,000-20,0000 bottles per year. They kind of started the other way round, selling only VORS (and one VOS), and working their way towards younger wines to feed their soleras. They have now even released a Fino (a very old Fino, but a Fino after all), and they explained that even though they started buying very old soleras, they are now in need of younger wines, and they do not rule out the need to even purchase their own vineyards in the future. A Benjamin Button kind of winery! The wines are in charge of Jose Maria Quiros, who was winemaker at Agustin Blazquez and later at Domecq and has been a consultant for Alvear in Montilla-Moriles for 15 years. His aim is to preserve traditions and keep the wines as pure and true to their style as possible, and they come through as clean, elegant, precise, well-defined, focused, true to their type and indeed traditional. All wines have a hand-written lot number and year on the label.”
Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate (208)
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Castro Ventosa Valtuille Cepas Centenarias 2018
£48.99
“The floral 2018 Valtuille Cepas Centenarias is the next vintage after the 2015, as no 2016 or 2017 could be produced. This has a Northern Rhône nose that mixes violets and smoked meat, very showy. The palate is seamless and refined, with very fine, silky tannins. Like many of their wines, 2018 could very well be the finest vintage of this wine to date. This has much lower alcohol (13.2%) and more acidity. In 2018, they used all the white grapes from one of the plots, which could be a significant 6% of white grapes, and also some 5% Merenzao, so the wine is somewhat more fluid and nuanced. The two plots used for this wine are in the paraje of Matalospardos in Valtuille. This is the most complete and complex of the 2018s. 3,500 bottles and 36 magnums were filled in early May 2020. Drink: 2020-2028. 97+ points
Castro Ventosa is the winery of Raúl Pérez’s family. They are adapting to the new categories from the Bierzo appellation. They are focusing on their vineyards and regrafting some Merenzao now that is accepted by the DO. They are also turning their style toward more freshness in the wines, going for larger barrels; they have always had a very traditional profile. In the near future, there will be a new bottling from La Vitoriana, one of the most prestigious lieux-dits, from 2018. All of the 2018s have a lower alcoholic degree (all around 13.5%, when it was previously 14.5%) and feel very pure and clean, with better-integrated oak. Production varies widely depending on the vintage, between 150,000 and 250,000 bottles.”
Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate (249)
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Castro Ventosa Valtuille Cepas Centenarias 2019
£62.95
“The 2019 Valtuille Cepas Centenarias comes from a single plot of ancient vines that could qualify as Vino de Paraje and in the future as Vino de Viña, but they are never going to do it because it’s their traditional name and label and one of the most consistent wines from the winery. It is made with field blend with lots of different grapes on clay and sand soils. It fermented with full clusters and indigenous yeasts with a long 60-day maceration and matured in 225- and 500-liter oak barrels (but, in the future, they might move to oval oak foudres) for one year. It has the violets and the perfume from the 2018 vintage but with more dimension, more layers and depth. A stellar performance in 2019 (again!). 3,500 bottles produced, what the plot delivered. It was bottled in June 2021. Drink: 2022-2035. 98 points
At Castro Ventosa they are separating the plots to have more precision, and they have a new top-of-the-range red called La Vitoriana. The wines have less alcohol, less ripeness and less oak, and they are cleaner and more focused. They own 80 to 85 hectares from the 500 hectares in the village of Valtuille, so they don’t buy a single grape (and they don’t sell any either).
For César Márquez, who likes 2018, thinks 2019 is more serious, keeping the freshness (perhaps with more structure), a more complete year. 2020 had a warmer summer and saw an early harvest, and the result is better than he expected. It’s a warm vintage but not as warm as 2017. I see many similar opinions in Bierzo. However, the 2020 whites felt one notch above the 2019s…”
Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate (01/22)
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Comando G Rozas 1er Cru 2020
£51.95
“The partnership of winemakers Daniel Gomez Jimenez-Landi and Fernando García, established in 2008, is producing some of Spain’s most sought-after and intriguingly graceful and complex wines. All of the reds are made from Garnacha, and aside from the entry-level Los Brujos bottling, they are highly allocated and, given their widespread demand and limited production (seven wines, from 10 hectares of vineyards), aren’t too easy to find. The style here is distinctly elegant, with an emphasis on balance and energy rather than brawn. This is a cool, mountainous area, so even in hot vintages the fruit, which is drawn from old vines planted at high altitude, is able to maintain freshness. Winemaking here is done with a decidedly light hand, meaning whole cluster fermentations, no new oak influence and minimal handling. The wines show intense floral and spice character, with no undue weight and distinctly energetic character. Indeed, there’s often a Pinot Noir-like laciness and detail to the wines but they emphatically do not lack flavor intensity.”
Josh Raynolds, Vinous (02/21)
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Contino Rioja Gran Reserva 2014
£53.95
“Deep violet. Primary black and blue fruit, potpourri, baking spice and vanilla qualities on the highly perfumed nose; a smoky mineral flourish adds urgency. Appealingly sweet, oak-spiced boysenberry, cassis and cherry cola flavors spread out steadily on the palate and show fine definition and back-end thrust. Closes impressively long and smooth, with rounded tannins contributing shape and gentle grip. Drinking window: 2023-2033. 94 points
CVNE’s single-vineyard project has been one of Rioja’s best sources from modern (but not too modern) wines since it was launched in 1973. These are impeccably made wines from fruit grown in a 62-acre vineyard in Rioja Alavesa, on an especially blessed curve of the Ebro River that affords the vine a variety of expositions. Compared to the CVNE bottlings, these wines are definitely richer and more forward in style, but they still retain the signature balance and focus that marks the parent company’s wines.”
Josh Raynolds, Vinous (04/21)
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Contino Vina del Olivo Rioja 2019
£62.95
“I sense that there is a change in direction in the 2019 Viña del Olivo in search of freshness and elegance form the limestone-rich soils. In a warm year like 2019, the wine was produced with the blend of 67% Tempranillo, 23% Graciano and 10% Mazuelo; it’s higher in Mazuelo, which gives it freshness and shows in the wine, which is “only” 13.71% alcohol, harvested early like the majority of 2019s and keeping a pH of 5.56. The wine is quite flattering and has contained ripeness, good freshness and balance but ultimately lacks the complexity and depth of the 2020 that I tasted next to it. It matured in barrel for 12 months and in oak vat for a further four months. 9,773 bottles and 500 magnums were filled in June 2021. Drink: 2022-2032. 94 points
The challenge at Contino is to control the power of the very warm place and achieve freshness in the wines. They started some experimental microvinifications in 2021 to find the way. The original wines from the 1970s, produced with part of the winery, have aged very well, and the challenge is to overcome the exuberant style of more recent years. This time there is a new red produced with 100% Mazuelo (Cariñena) grapes that were always vinified separately.”
Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate (07/22)
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Cota 45 Ube Carrascal 2018
£46.99
“Cota 45 is the personal project of Ramiro Ibañez, one of the most dynamic young winemakers in Jerez. He’s also involved in the renaissance of De La Riva together with his friend Willy Pérez; the Mayetería Sanluqueña project with small growers from his village; and he is the winemaker for La Callejuela. He has a small winery by the beach in Bajo de Guía in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Without a doubt he is one of the pioneers in the new wave from Jerez.”
Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate (234)
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Cota 45 Ube Maina 2018
£46.99
“Cota 45 is the personal project of Ramiro Ibañez, one of the most dynamic young winemakers in Jerez. He’s also involved in the renaissance of De La Riva together with his friend Willy Pérez; the Mayetería Sanluqueña project with small growers from his village; and he is the winemaker for La Callejuela. He has a small winery by the beach in Bajo de Guía in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Without a doubt he is one of the pioneers in the new wave from Jerez.”
Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate (234)
In Stock
CVNE Imperial Rioja Gran Reserva 2015
£45.95
“Deep, brilliant ruby. Offers sharply defined, mineral-inflected red and dark berries, cherry liqueur, pipe tobacco, vanilla and exotic spice scents. Chewy and penetrating in the mouth, offering concentrated black raspberry, bitter cherry, boysenberry and spicecake flavors that steadily become more lively on the back half. The strikingly persistent finish features polished tannins, repeating minerality and a touch of candied flowers. Drinking window: 2025-2038. 95 points
One of Rioja’s most well-known, oldest and largest bodegas, CVNE was founded in 1879 in Haro. Today the property owns over 500 hectares of vines. Over the past decade the quality of these traditionally made wines has been on a steady rise. Today I would count CVNE among the region’s top producers, up and down the range. The entry-level Cune bottlings deliver excellent value in quantity. The top-end Imperial bottlings are made from a 28-hectare vineyard in Rioja Alta. These wines have established an enviable track record for long aging. Bottles of the legendary 1968 Gran Reserva are still going strong, with what seems to be years of life ahead. Both American and French oak barrels are used here, with an emphasis on American.”
Josh Raynolds, Vinous (06/21)
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CVNE Monopole Clasico Gran Reserva Blanco 2015
£99.95
“One of Rioja’s most well-known, oldest and largest bodegas, CVNE was founded in 1879 in Haro. Today the property owns over 500 hectares of vines. Over the past decade the quality of these traditionally made wines has been on a steady rise. Today I would count CVNE among the region’s top producers, up and down the range. The entry-level Cune bottlings deliver excellent value in quantity. The top-end Imperial bottlings are made from a 28-hectare vineyard in Rioja Alta. These wines have established an enviable track record for long aging. Bottles of the legendary 1968 Gran Reserva are still going strong, with what seems to be years of life ahead. Both American and French oak barrels are used here, with an emphasis on American.”
Josh Raynolds, Vinous (03/21)
In Stock