Restrained dark bramble fruit and vibrant spiciness, with notes of cold coffee, earth and bay leaves. The attack is dense and velvety, with thick, ripe tannins that are a bit sandy. Ripe and full-bodied with crisp acidity and good length focused on graphite. Power and grace, with a restrained chocolate aftertaste. Drink or hold. Score - 95. (Aldo Fiordelli, jamessuckling.com, May 21, 2024)
This supple, silky wine comes from 40-year-old vines and spent 11 months in oak. It evokes rose petals, violets, tangy cherry, and freshly picked berries. Drink through 2030.
From the sister property of Vega Sicilia in Rioja, a partnership between the Alvarez and Rothschild families, the 2021 Macan Clasico has unrelenting freshness and is gorgeously aromatic. The vintage conditions were perfect and the wines able to achieve exceptional quality. Here, the Tempranillo is joined by 3% Garnacha, which provides additional brightness to juicy layers of red berry, cigar, and dried herb, with a foundation of supple tannins. Medium-bodied, the oak is well-integrated, interweaving the lilting spice and toast notes from a combination of French and American barrels that aged the wine for 14-16 months. With a long, silky, and finessed finish, it's drinking perfectly now. Continue to enjoy over the next 10-15 years. Maturity: 2025-2040. Score - 97. (Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com, July 30, 2025)
The 2020 Valbuena 5° ages five years in oak and bottle, which gives it its name. Harvest was challenging due to Covid and rain, requiring due diligence in the field and a faster, earlier harvest than anticipated, the grapes coming from the Vega Sicilia estate's vines with about 35 years of age. It's an ethereal, medium-bodied wine of lovely delicacy and elegance, 97% Tempranillo blended with 3% Merlot, then aged 12 months in French and American oak, six months in stainless steel and then 18 months in bottle. Blackcurrant, cedar, and balsamic highlight a citrusy freshness. It will hit its prime in five years and age another 20-25. Maturity: 2025-2050. Score - 97. (Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com, July 30, 2025)
The NV Único Reserva Especial 2025 Release was produced with a blend of wines from 2011, 2012 and 2013, with 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.86 and five grams of acidity. It has the core of the 2012 vintage, possibly the higher percentage in the blend too, providing the power and structure to go along with the freshness and tension of 2013, which also contributes some balsamic characteristics, and it has less of the 2011. The wine shows extra complexity and elegance, and it has the Único nose with more nuance and subtleness. But what I like the most is the silky texture and the elegance of the tannins - as usual, they combine more developed characteristics with elegance and freshness. This is another stellar release of their non-vintage classical blend, slowly going back to the style of yesteryear. It was bottled in May 2021. Drink date: 2024-2040. Score - 98. (Luis Gutiérrez, robertparker.com, June 19, 2025)
The vintage released in 2025 is the 2021 Alión, a year to remember, one of the best in recent times. 2021 was relaxed and textbook in all senses, with snow in the beginning of the year, a mild spring disturbed only by frost in Pesquera that didn't affect other villages and a relatively cool summer that slowed things down, and the grapes ripened to perfection without rain after September. They used grapes from 13 different villages throughout the Ribera del Duero, from a total of 130 hectares. The grapes were cooled down for 24 hours, and once destemmed, they were put in the oak and stainless steel vats, where they underwent a five-day cold soak and then native fermentation through a 'pied de cuve.' The wine has 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.81 and 4.8 grams of acidity (tartaric). It's very fresh and fruit-driven, with the balance and elegance of the cooler year, and it's a little austere, with very elegant and polished tannins and a different quality, when the grapes ripen slowly. They believe 2024 has the potential to be like 2021, after the 2022 and 2023 vintages were a lot more challenging. It was bottled in June 2023. Drink date: 2025-2040. Score - 96. (Luis Gutiérrez, robertparker.com, June 19, 2025)
Another combination of freshness and profoundness from Toro. Blackberries, graphite, ashtray, sandalwood, cocoa powder and dark olives on the nose. Fresh-veined, chalky tannins tighten the palate, with a nervy backbone. The tannins extend to a lengthy finish. Ripe but fresh. Drink from 2026. Score - 95. (Zekun Shuai, jamessuckling.com, Aug. 13, 2024)
A wine of tremendous concentration and gastronomic invitation, the 2020 Macan has a small 3% addition of Graciano and is aged in French oak only for 18-20 months. The vintage was warm, lending a concentration of firm, age-worthy tannins to its striking beauty and powerfully elegant core. Aromatic in rose petal and dark chocolate, it's lengthy on the medium-bodied palate and balanced by underlying acidity, intended to show an evolution and departure in style, more finessed and structured, velvety and voluminous, but essential in its elegance and grace. Drink now through 2035. Maturity: 2025-2035. Score - 98. (Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com, July 30, 2025)
One of Spain's best-known and beloved wines, this vintage, the 2015 Unico, like always, saw five years of aging in barrel and vat and another five years in bottle. It was bottled in May 2021. Blending 96% Tempranillo and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Vega Sicilia estate, usually from the same plots of 40+-year-old vines, it opens in expressive, juicy, lush pomegranate and dark cherry carried by supple, silky tannins and bright acidity. The length and structure are remarkable. The grapes were harvested 'al dente,' when they were crisp, fresh, and juicy, perfectly ripe. There is tremendous balance between the wine's acidity and freshness and full-bodied power. This will age 60 years and is winemaker Gonzalo Iturriaga's first vintage. Maturity: 2025-2085. Score - 100. (Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com, July 30, 2025)
The 2022 Vougeot Les Cras 1er Cru comes from a parcel next to Château de la Tour, planted next to Chardonnay from Domaine de la Vougeraie. It has a potent marine/estuarine-scented bouquet with mainly red berry fruit and hints of morels and crushed stone. The medium-bodied palate offers sappy red fruit, very smooth in style, although, like in previous years, I discern more complexity on Legros's Chambolle and Morey-Saint-Denis cuvées. Fine. Drinking window: 2025-2038. Score - 90. (Neal Martin, vinous.com, Jan. 11, 2024)
From 45-year-old vines, this wine delivers complex, earthy dark fruit and layers of smoky spice. Drink through 2035 and potentially beyond.
This graceful, harmonious wine showcases hawthorn blossom, marzipan, hazelnut, lemongrass and crunchy green apple with touches of flinty mineral and honey. Drink through 2030 and potentially beyond.
Dark inky color with a restrained nose of cloves, cassis, macerated violets, earth, graphite and a hint of Band-Aid. Full-bodied with a dense palate of black licorice and dark chocolate flavors, refreshing acidity and firm tannins. It's youthful, chewy and dynamic. Drinkable now, but best from 2028. Score - 95. (Aldo Fiordelli, jamessuckling.com, May 21, 2024)
Fun, fresh, and elegantly sweet, the Baglietti Moscato Rosé comes in an eye-catching bottle and delivers exciting red berry, lychee, citrus fruit, and herb notes. Light, lithe and low-alcohol, this wine has a zesty character and a driving acidity that make it superbly food-friendly.
Light, crisp, and low in alcohol, the Baglietti Moscato sparkling white will be a vibrant, zesty addition to any meal but will shine as an aperitif. It's fresh, with lifted florals, peach, apricot, pineapple, honeydew melon, and a delicate, balanced sweetness.
All the usual suspects make up this wine. 35% whole bunch, 20% new wood, still in barrel. An elegant crimson ruby. The bouquet is light but fine, cherry and alpine strawberry, more density of course than the Bourgogne, very unforced. Not the most intense Gevrey of the vintage, but a fine one. Drink from 2027-2033. Tasted Dec 2023. Score - 90-92. (Jasper Morris, MW, insideburgundy.com, Jan. 2024)
Once again firm reduction masks everything except a discreet floral element. The delicious, rich and beautifully textured medium-bodied flavors possess a generous mouthfeel while exhibiting excellent length on the lightly stony, youthfully austere and sneaky long finale. Lovely though note that it's clearly built-to-age. Drink: 2034+. Score - 91-93. (Allen Meadows, burghound.com, Jan. 10, 2024)
Bottled in September. An attractive pale lemon yellow, with a racy and lightly reductive nose. Perfectly balanced, light on its stony feet, a little citrus wash, and good persistence. A fine example. Drink from 2026-2031. Tasted Dec 2023. Score - 90-92. (Jasper Morris, MW, insideburgundy.com, Jan. 2024)
From both sides of the village, all destemmed, still in barrel, 20% new wood. Dark in colour with a suggestion of reduction on the nose. An even medium deep fruit on the palate, dark raspberry, quite elegant even, and certainly a clean finish. Drink from 2028-2034. Tasted Dec 2023. Score - 90-91. (Jasper Morris, MW, insideburgundy.com, Jan. 2024)
The 2022 Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux Saint-Jacques 1er Cru has an almost clinical bouquet, citrus fresh with commendable purity. Fully de-stemming this was a good decision as it already has sufficient spice. The palate is medium-bodied with a bit of chocolaty oak sticking out. Hopefully, that will be assimilated with time - I will be cautious at the moment, but it should mature well in bottle. Drinking window: 2026-2046. Score - 91-93. (Neal Martin, vinous.com, Jan. 11, 2024)