Spain

Planella (2 hectares total size) & Argata, within Darmos (Southern Catalonia). 65% Garnacha, 35% Carinyena (15-70 year-old vines) grown on gravel & sandy soils. Fermented in 45hL concrete vats, and macerated on skins for 3 weeks prior to pressing into barrel. Transferred to 225L French oak barrels (5-15 years of age), where the wines age for 14 months, racked twice per year. Aged in bottle an additional 3 months at the winery prior to release.

95 Points! I also tasted the 2023 La Escribana, the unfortified white from Macharnudo from grapes picked early and fermented at low temperature in stainless steel vats. It matured in used Sherry butts for 12 months under a veil of flor yeast. It has 13.5% alcohol and 5.82 grams of acidity. There's tension, texture and volume, but the wine is fresher and more elegant than the 2023; it feels cooler, a little shy but with insinuating finesse and complexity. It's one of the most powerful plots within Macharnudo, but it still has a little more clay than San Cayetano. This is brilliant. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! The subtle, balsamic, structured and elegant 2020 Viña Ardanza Reserva is a blend of Tempranillo from Rioja Alta and around 20% Garnacha from Rioja Baja. It fermented destemmed in stainless steel and aged in American oak barrels, 20% of them new, for a period of 36 months in the case of the Tempranillo and 30 months for the Garnacha, then the two wines are blended before bottling. It's a textbook example of the label, with the perfume and elegance of the Garnacha and the clout from Tempranillo. It has clean aromas and is still quite fresh, only starting its tertiary phase. It comes in at 14.5% alcohol and keeps a pH of 3.57 and 5.7 grams of acidity. It's balanced, seamless and well-built, and its tannins are mostly resolved. It should live long in bottle. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

95 Points! This wine exhibits aromas of incense, spices and red cherries. It is medium- to full-bodied, elegant and polished, with clarity of fruit and underlying precise tannins. This will age forever. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

98 Points! The white 2005 Viña Tondonia Blanco Gran Reserva comes from a more powerful year. It has a deeper golden color and a nose with more oxidation end evolution, with notes of honey, wax and a little caramel. María José compared it with years like 1976, 1981 or 1957, years that showed more evolution early on. It has a different profile, with a rounder mouthfeel but with the chalky austerity from the limestone soils, finishing tasty and with a salty twist. It was bottled in November 2019 after 14 years in well-seasoned American oak barrels and oak vats. It has 12.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.4 and 6.6 grams of acidity. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! The 2015 Viña Bosconia Reserva shows a darker color and a riper profile. It was a warm year, and the grapes were picked quite ripe. They struggled a little with the fermentations, and they had different lots and had to play with the blending and the percentages of other vintages that were allowed to be blended in the wine so it would be a more balanced wine with 13.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.3 and 6.7 grams of acidity. It was produced with a blend of 80% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacho and the remaining 5% Graciano and Mazuelo, fermented in old oak vats with their yeasts and matured in those vats and in neutral American oak barrels over seven years. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

96 Points! Not yet released, the 2025 Antidoto comes from an exceptional vintage with even ripening and precision in the wines, no stress, no frost, no hail, no heat, but good winter rain. Dense, full-bodied, and well-integrated tannins support a generous core of pure berry fruit, coming from the 100% Tinto Fino. Length and structure add to the mix, but more than anything, it’s the vitality of the wine that will stay with you. Tremendous. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

94 Points! Blue fruit and fresh blackberries, aromatic herbs as well. The palate is fleshy, framed by precise focused tannins that turn fibrous and saline, with a very persistent subtle texture. Sourced from 95 parcels totaling 44 hectares with vines up to 40 years old across Soria. Short macerations of five days, aged for two months in new 600-liter French oak before bottling. This is exceptional value Ribera from Soria with its characteristic chalky tannins and energetic profile. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The bottled 2025 Antídoto is pure Tinto Fino (a.k.a. Tempranillo) that fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and matured for nine months in 600-liter French oak barrels, 25% of them new. It is a very perfumed and floral vintage, clean, aromatic and attractive, with some creamy notes from the élevage. It's subtle and elegant, with a medium-bodied palate and contained ripeness (14.53% alcohol). It has integrated acidity and integrated oak (they started in used 600-liter barrels and the last two months they transferred the wine to new 600-liter barrels that apparently clean the wine nicely), coming through as very balanced and with very fine tannins. It's approachable already. This is one of the finest vintages for Antídoto. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparkercom

92 Points! Aromas of hazelnuts, chocolate, pine cones and fresh blackberries follow through to a medium- to full-bodied palate with firm, tight-grained tannins and a long, firm finish. The woody tannins will need time to integrate and soften. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! An aromatic charge of smoky herbals amid a ripe peach and apricot redolence. Broad and generous with a silty, saline acidity carrying the long finish. - Decanter World Wine Awards

93+ Points! The young red Garnacha 2023 Suzzane, inspired by the Leonard Cohen song, is ripe and creamy, showy and extroverted. It was produced with grapes from Camprovín and Badarán on red limestone and clay soils. It was foot trodden with different percentages of stems—between full clusters and fully destemmed—and fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts. It matured in 600-liter barrels for 10 months. It has some toasty flavors but a very fine palate with elegant tannins and a chalky feeling I found in many wines here. Like most of its siblings, it also needs a little more time in bottle. It comes in at 14% alcohol while keeping a pH of 3.4. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

93 Points! The white 2023 Costumbres Blanco has a bright golden color and a very expressive nose that is serious, fresh, balanced and harmonious, really very good. It was produced with a blend of 50% Viura, 20% Pasera, 20% Tempranillo Blanco and 10% Garnacha Roya taken from individual vines interplanted with the red ones. It fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in used 300- and 400-liter oak barrels for 11 months. It has a moderate 12.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.3 and 5.6 grams of acidity. It has notes of pollen, herbs and flowers, a medium-bodied palate and notable freshness and balance. It is clean and pure, with a dry, chalky finish. 2,200 bottles and 36 magnums were filled in September 2024. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92 Points! Brine with lime aromas as well as dried herbs. Medium- to full-bodied, fresh and incisive, with a touch of fruit and salinity. Nervy finish. - JamesSuckling.com

90 Points! A big, dense, chewy wine, the 2023 Breca El Nacido is grown in iron-rich soils that retain good moisture where the site contains some white varieties as well (mostly Macabeu), blended into the whole. From the Garnacha de Aragon clone, it has rich, concentrated red fruit, mostly cherry and plum, with a back beat of soy and leather and velvety tannins. There’s some good acidity on the back of the palate that helps balance, but this is all about intensity. Drink now and through the next 7-10 years. - Virginie Boone, jebdunnuck.com

97+ Points! The super pale and subtle white 2022 El Jardín de las Iguales Macabeo is a wine that feels a lot younger than it is, undeveloped and young. It comes from the same vineyard, a centenary plot, and with the same process as in previous years, fermented and matured in a 1,000-liter oak foudre. It has a complex nose with notes of dry yellow flowers and pollen and a round palate with texture, chalky minerality and a very long finish. It is complete and complex, just a more tender than the 2021, which was more chiseled. This is a wine that really grows in bottle. It was a success to hold it for one year before releasing it, and that's why the vintage in the market is one year older than the red. 1,305 bottles produced, a good year for quality and quantity. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

96 Points! The white 2023 La Loma & Los Santos, containing some 60% Macabeo and 40% Garnacha Blanca, fermented in concrete and matured in 500- and 900-liter oak barrels, with some Macabeo in concrete egg, for 13 months. This has to be the finest vintage of this white; it's a year with more tension and is very expressive and nuanced, with notes of dry yellow flowers and pollen. It is finessed, beautifully textured and velvety, with volume, sapidity and electricity, and it is crunchy and citrusy, with a salty twist in the finish. This should age nicely in bottle. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

93 Points! The red 2024 Microcósmico Garnacha is a clear step up from the Botijo from this same year. It is more serious, with more tension and more elegant and polished tannins, a subtler and more harmonious wine with citrus and floral characteristics. It's still quite primary but has complexity, depth and a mineral feeling, the texture on the palate. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94+ Points! The nose of the 2017 Viña Gravonia Blanco is unmistakably López de Heredia, with those mushroom, white pepper and pollen aromas that remind you so much of the smell in their ancient caves. 2017 was the year of the big frost in April and the scarcity of rain that made it the earliest, scarcest and quickest harvest they have experienced in their recent history. The grapes for this wine were the first grapes picked, the 14th of September, from vines aged 93 years. It fermented in even older oak vats with indigenous yeasts ("We have never added yeasts to our wines," they answer when asked) and matured in used American oak barrels for four years (possibly more looking at the bottling date). Of course, this could qualify as a Gran Reserva, but they keep it at Crianza (to have a range), and it's sold at a bargain price for its quality and age. It's characterful and nuanced, with some hints of development (diesel) and a lightish palate with pungent flavors and great harmony. It has the usual parameters: 12.5% alcohol, a pH of three and seven grams of acidity. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com