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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.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDProduced with a selection form the more ethereal parcels that don’t deliver the power sought for Unico, Valbuena 5º is however much more than a younger sibling of the iconic wine. The 2020 vintage, a child of a challenging growing season, both due to natural and operational challenges (remember Covid?...), it is a great achievement of nuanced power and detailed complexity, with a luscious fruit core lined with oregano, dried sage and thyme. Dark chocolate and roasted coffee beans build a broody background layer while Assam and Oolong tea leaves add umami depth. Beautiful detail and depth to the tannins.Decanter Magazine | 96 DECValbuena 5 used to be the baby Unico, and nowadays it is more like its younger brother with a lot of resemblance and just a bit less depth and tannins. Valbuena 5 comes from younger vines and sometimes different parcels from Unico. On the palate, this is more open and linear, while Unico is more profound and vertical. Notes of iron, blackberries, cedar, minerals and cocoa powder. Medium- to full-bodied with melted tannins and a long, long finish. Drinkable from 2025, but will hold for years.James Suckling | 96 JSThe 2020 Valbuena is from a year marked by COVID-19 and lots of rain before the harvest, which resulted in a more ethereal wine, with 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.9 and 4.45 grams of acidity. It was produced with 97% Tinto Fino and 3% Merlot, cooled down for 24 hours and then fermented with indigenous yeasts from a pied de cuve in stainless steel. It matured in barrel and oak vats during the first year, and in the second one, it aged exclusively in oak vats of different sizes, 8,500 and 21,000 liters. In 2020, the wine is finer-boned, more fluid and only medium-bodied, perhaps because of the dilution from the rain; the tannins are fine-grained and polished, but there’s less juiciness in the wine. It calls for food. With time in the glass, the wine opens up and becomes more aromatic, and it even seems to gain juiciness and change texture. This is a production of 186,286 bottles, 5,673 magnums and some larger formats. It was bottled in May 2023.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPThe 2020 Valbuena 5º is Tinta del País from Ribera del Duero. Balsamic and herbal aromas mingle with forest, red fruit, cherry, violet and a hint of apple peel on the nose. The palate is intense, with a velvety texture, moderate concentration and enveloping flow. Chalky tannins and a touch of creaminess define the structure. Ample and richly flavored, with subtle oak in the background. A fine example of elegant Ribera.Vinous Media | 95 VMA harmonious red, fresh and medium- to full-bodied, with a lovely skein of ground espresso, anise and paprika aromas lacing the black plum, cassis, violet, vanilla and loamy earth notes. Its fine-grained tannins are well-integrated and emerge to firm the long, focused finish. Tinto Fino and Merlot. Drink now through 2035. 15,525 cases made, 812 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

This has aromas of orange peel, plums, raspberries, wild strawberries, violets and tobacco leaves. Excellent freshness with lightly bitter citrus and herb notes lifting the wild berry fruit, supported by fine tannins. Drink now.James Suckling | 92 JS(Godello “Pagos del Galir”- Virgen del Galir) The 2020 Godello “Pagos del Galir” bottling from Cuné’s Virgen del Galir property is lovely this year. As I have mentioned in the past, this wine hails from the single vineyard of A Malosa, with the wine fermented and raised in stainless steel tanks. The 2020 is fairly ripe, coming in at fourteen percent octane this year, but impressively fresh and vibrant on both the nose and palate,. The bouquet offers up a refined blend of lemon, pear, a bit of raw almond, stony minerality, citrus blossoms and just a whisper of beeswax in the upper register. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a superb core, lovely soil signature and grip, sound framing acids and a long, well-balanced and quite wide open finish. Like many 2020 whites, this does not have a ton of acidity, but plenty to carry it over the next ten to twelve years. (Drink between 2022-2035)John Gilman | 92 JGThe white 2020 Pagos del Galir A Malosa Godello was produced with grapes from a large vineyard (21 hectares!) planted over four years after purchasing over 100 small plots from local growers. So, it has different soils, expositions and altitudes. In 2020 they used the grapes from the lower and middle parts, the oldest plantings on slate soils fermented in stainless steel, barrels (500 and 600 liters) and oak foudres and then matured in foudres and barrels for seven months. 2020 saw a very early harvest with higher yields than 2019, resulting in a wine with 13.5% alcohol and 6.5 grams of acidity. They have seen that small barrels don’t work in the region and have moved to larger sizes, all from French oak. The nose has a Burgundian feeling to it, spicy and with a toasty twist. The oak is still there, so it might need more time to get that creaminess integrated, but it’s very clean and of high quality. There is great purity, definition and precision here. The wine is elegant and subtle, with a long, dry and tasty finish. It has good acidity, one of the challenges with Godello. 19,000 bottles and 300 magnums were produced. It was bottled in May 2021.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91+ RPLight, vivid yellow. Fresh, mineral-tinged citrus and orchard fruits and a powerful floral quality on the perfumed nose. Juicy and focused on the palate, offering lively Meyer lemon, pear and honeysuckle flavors that deepen through the back half. A dusty mineral flourish adds firm cut to the persistent finish, which features clinging citrus fruit and floral notes.Vinous Media | 91 VM

The white 2021 Cargol Treu Vi has notes of pollen and yellow fruit with some browning apples. It has contained ripeness and 12.4% alcohol with a very low pH and high-ish acidity but comes through as more evolved and somewhat riper than the phenomenal Principia Mathematica form this same vintage. It has pungent flavors and a medium-bodied palate, with some spice from aging in 300-liter barrels for 10 to 11 months. 2,100 bottles were filled in August 2022.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RP

Juan António Ponce told me 2021 is one of those vintages when you realize in wine you never know everything... He thinks the 2021 Clos Lojen is the most complete vintage ever for this wine, with unusual freshness (despite "normal" parameters like a pH of 3.7 and five grams of acidity) and 12% alcohol. It’s intense and has varietal Bobal typicity with good weight. It fermented in 4,500-liter oak vats with 100% full clusters and indigenous yeasts and matured in 4,500-, 10,000- and 15,000-liter French oak vats for six months. This is sharp and austere, with lower alcohol and is more mineral than fruit-driven. Incredible value. 60,000 bottles produced.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPThis is a bobal with clarity and silken length, even as its scent fills the head with purple grape skins and bergamot spice. Friendly, in search of a chill for a summer night, this is a by-the-case buy.Wine & Spirits Magazine | 90 W&S

The bread-and-butter wine here is the 2021 Bela, produced with Tempranillo from the village of Villalba de Duero (mentioned on the label), from sandy and clay rich soils on limestone mother rock that delivers powerful but not overripe wines with a short-ish élevage to achieve a fine-boned and fresh wine. The grapes were picked between October 1st and 25th, mostly Tempranillo but some 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot too, and it matured in French oak barrels for nine months. The wine has 14.3% alcohol, a pH of 3.57 and close to five grams of acidity, textbook parameters from the zone and textbook profile of classical Ribera; it’s ripe without excess, with very integrated oak and a velvety palate with silky tannins. It reminds me of the historical wines from the early 1990s, Valribeño and so on, with some rusticity but very honest and characterful. With time in the glass, it develops a precise note of licorice intermixed with berry fruit and some spices and herbs. They feel this is the wine they wanted to produce from the beginning; they consider it their best vintage to date irrespective of the style of the year, with 2019 more powerful, 2020 more elegant and this 2021 something in between. 85,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2022.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RP

The vino de villa village red 2021 Corullón is extremely floral and elegant, clean, precise, fresh and very complete and harmonious, with a super elegant mouthfeel and a very long finish. 19,716 bottles and some smaller and larger formats produced. It was bottled in January 2022. This is super balanced and is aging slowly, with potential to age much more.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPA very refined and elegant expression with juicy raspberries, wild cherries and strawberries. Subtle rose hips, spice and pomegranate, too, with a hint of white pepper. Nimble and agile with a linear, medium-bodied palate, unleashing fine, chalky tannins. Mineral and precise in the finish. Serious, but effortlessly drinkable, too. From organically grown grapes. Hard to resist now.James Suckling | 95 JS

Granito is an exciting new wine from one of the key figures in the renaissance of Garnacha in Riojoa, aged in two different containers made from the eponymous rock. Stony, fine and complex, it marries raspberry and red cherry flavours with fine tannins and a mineral core. 2023-30Tim Atkin | 95 TA

Most of the Pena El Gato range is wooded, but this one was fermented and aged in a day amphora. Sourced from the same 1917 vineyard as the Vinas Centenarias bottling, it’s earthy, firm and complex, with sappy tannis and plum and bramble fruit. 2023-30Tim Atkin | 94 TA

All of the wines from 2021 have considerably less alcohol than the counterparts from 2020, reflecting the much cooler condition of the year. The 2021 Encrucijada has a moderate 12% alcohol and retained very good acidity. It’s perfumed and elegant; the plants are happier after being recovered from being abandoned, and the cool vintage lifted the wine up. It’s fresh, tightly wound, very tasty and fine, with elegant tannins. It has to be the most elegant and balanced vintage of Encrucijada so far. 1,700 bottles were filled in October 2022.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RP

All of the wines from 2021 have considerably less alcohol than the counterparts from 2020, reflecting the much cooler condition of the year. The 2021 Encrucijada has a moderate 12% alcohol and retained very good acidity. It’s perfumed and elegant; the plants are happier after being recovered from being abandoned, and the cool vintage lifted the wine up. It’s fresh, tightly wound, very tasty and fine, with elegant tannins. It has to be the most elegant and balanced vintage of Encrucijada so far. 1,700 bottles were filled in October 2022.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RP

This is the fourth vintage of Sandra Bravo’s brilliant old-vine Garnacha from Rivas de Tereso and it’s every bit as good as its predecessors. Aged in 300-litre clay amphoras, it’s wonderfully perfumed and intense, with engaging bramble and red cherry fruit sweetness, tannins and a long, energetic palate. 2023-32Tim Atkin | 96 TA

One of the finest Valbuenas available, showcasing great depth, structure and detail while remaining polished. It exhibits notes of blackberries, cocoa powder, graphite, and high-quality sandalwood, with hints of lard and violets. The standout feature this year is the quantity and quality of the tannins—huge, yet incredibly refined and polished. There are plenty of fine grits that aren’t fully integrated but should harmonize in two to three years. Exceptionally long finish. Will hold effortlessly for the next 20 years. 176,000 bottles produced.James Suckling | 98 JS

”This Garnacha is part of Zorzal’s series of terroir-focused wines. Coming from Fitero, a village at the base of the mountains in the south of Navarra that separate the region from La Rioja, the 40-year-old vines are grown at 520m on rocky soils on limestone and clay. The wine is defined by an elegant and precise structure but does not lack any intensity with blackberry fruit, black pepper and a little mint. With just enough tannic grip, it is profound yet full of energy and drive.Tim Atkin | 97 TAA longtime favorite of mine and still a bargain, the 2021 Malayeto is always one of the most elegant and finest wines from Zorzal. It comes from 2.39 hectares of vines that are now 43 years old, planted at 520 meters altitude on limestone-rich soils in the village of Fitero, on the same slope as their Corral de los Altos. It fermented in a combination of stainless steel and concrete and matured in 12 used 500-liter barrels and one 4,000-liter oak foudre for one year. It has 13.45% alcohol and is medium-bodied with great balance, finesse, freshness and acidity. It has good depth and a sense of good ripeness (riper than Corral de los Altos this year!). There is great consistency in this vineyard, and this wine is serious, precise and long. 13,300 bottles produced. It was bottled in February 2023.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPMalayeto is Viña Zorzal’s single vineyard bottling of Garnacha, with these vines thirty-five years of age. The wine is fermented with native yeasts and raised for nine months in three hundred liter, used barrels, prior to racking into large foudres for a final two months of élevage. The 2021 Malayeto comes in at fourteen percent alcohol and delivers a lovely aromatic constellation of raspberries, fruitcake, pepper, chalky soil tones, garrigue, a nice touch of meatiness and a gentle topnote of distant bonfire. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and ripely tannic, with fine focus and grip, a good core of red fruit and soil, lovely balance and a long, youthfully complex finish. Unlike the regular bottle of Garnacha from Viña Zorzal, the Malayeto will need some time in the cellar to soften up its tannins a bit before it drinks with generosity. (Drink between 2031 - 2065)John Gilman | 91 JG

Aromas of lemons, pie crust and a salty, minerally edge. Austere yet voluminous, incisive and saline, it shows a medium- to full-bodied structure, with an attractive interplay of freshness and nervy texture that drives the finish. This comes from a vineyard planted on decomposed gneiss soil in Sanxenxo. This wine should evolve beautifully with time in the bottle. Already drinkable. Drink now or hold.James Suckling | 98 JSThe nose of the 2022 Leirana O Pradiño is very expressive and complex, different, with notes of quince, smoke and citrus, and the palate is marked by the soils, beautifully textured, tasty and long, with great balance, a little more volume and a harmonious finish. It comes from a single vineyard in the village of Sanxenxo. The wine matured for 12 months in a 600-liter barrel. 750 bottles were produced. It was bottled in August 2023.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RPThe 2022 Albariño Leirana O Pradiño, from Salnés, Rías Baixas, is planted on gneiss soils with ample sun exposure. Golden in color, it reveals resin and ripe stone fruit aromas. Compact on the palate, it shows intense freshness, a creamy mid-palate and a lingering saline finish. Refined and distinctive.Vinous Media | 93 VM

The young unoaked Mencía, the eponymous 2022 Merayo is varietal and juicy, with notes of licorice, wild berries, flowers and herbs. It has a moderate 13.28% alcohol and a velvety mouthfeel. It’s from old vines and was fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and kept in tank for two to three months. 85,000 bottles produced. It was bottled unoaked in March 2023.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RPFresh, fragrant nose of red berries, sour cherries and some stemmy herbs. This is juicy and medium-bodied on the palate with a vibrant, crunchy feel to the simple red berry fruit. Juicy and easy finish. Drink now.James Suckling | 90 JS

The 2022 Rioja Blanco bottling from Sandra Bravo’s Bodega Sierra de Toloño is composed entirely from Viura (albeit, with a bit of Tempranillo Blanco co-planted in the vineyard). Ten percent of the cuvée is raised in oak, with the remainder in stainless steel and the wine does not undergo malolactic fermentation. The bouquet wafts from the glass in a precise and complex mix of tart pear, lemon, salty soil tones, white flowers and just a whisper of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is bright, young and full-bodied, with lovely depth at the core, good soil signature, zesty acids and fine focus and balance on the long and nascently complex finish. This is quite tasty out of the blocks, but will gain in complexity with some time in the cellar. (Drink between 2023 - 2040)John Gilman | 91+ JG

Last year, Álvaro Palacios defined the 2023 Moncerbal as juicy and crystalline, an energetic red from 2.1 hectares in this paraje from Corullón where the soils are shallow and the vines are on steep slopes at 610 to 730 meters above sea level. It’s 92% Mencía and 8% Jerez that fermented with some full clusters and indigenous yeasts in oak vats with manual punching down of the cap. Like most of the 2023s, it had an élevage of around 10 months and has contained alcohol, 13%, and in this case a slightly lower pH, 3.6. It’s paler and also the most aromatic, floral, ethereal and insinuating. This is a vineyard that excels in less warm vintages, but it’s also a vineyard that has suffered a lot from the drought in the last few years and needs some time to recover. Still, this has the textbook herbal side, with finesse and precision. It’s perfumed, floral and showy, with notes of tangerine peel and also fennel and aniseed, pungent, mysterious and intoxicating... There is a transparency, symmetry and elegance. This is super approachable already. 6,446 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2025.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPTasted en primeur and, as with Villa de Corullón, this Moncerbal was a little reduced on the nose. In contrast, the palate was remarkable: alight with vivid acidity, bright cherry and pomelo fruits, wrapped with notes of creamy chocolate and structured by very fine tannin. Enjoy it soon, but will also benefit from ageing.Decanter Magazine | 96 DECThe 2023 Moncerbal is a Mencía from Corullón in Bierzo. It opens with pomegranate and blueberry notes, evolving toward wild herbs, a touch of sun-warmed cherry and a hint of laurel. The palate shows a delicate talc-like texture and a gentle tightness that gains energy from the interplay of alcohol and freshness. Moderate yet expressive, it presents a compact character within the Bierzo context.Vinous Media | 93-95 VM

The white 2023 Micalet comes from 2.4 hectares planted in 1948 at 730 to 750 meters in altitude on the slopes of the Penya Foradà on rocky white soils with a field blend of mainly Tortosí, Trepadell, Malvasía and Merseguera. Part of the vineyard is ungrafted, and those grapes are harvested earlier, with the rest coming in some 10 days later. The must fermented in concrete egg and oak barrels with indigenous yeasts, where it matured without racking for 10 months. This year has incredible freshness, reflected by a pH of 3.07 and 6.3 grams of acidity, tension and contained ripeness as shown by the 12.5% alcohol. It’s a white of precision and elegance; it’s crystalline, seamless, ethereal and nuanced, with purity and freshness. This is vibrant, sharp and austere, chalky, mineral and saline. A Mediterranean Roulot? 2,300 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2023,Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96+ RP

Pretty peach and honey scents seduce. Really briney with peach juice, lovely richness: a great example of Albariño. Puts you on assured footing of place. The palate is steely – classically so. Lemon purity and salty stoniness are very appetising and tangy. Nominated by Fiona Beckett.Decanter | 93 DECThe 2022 Albariño is from granite soils in the Salnés Valley. It shows varietal character, freshly cut grass, white flowers and fruit and the roundness of the year, with 13.5% alcohol and balancing acidity. This is bottled after four to five months with lees. It has the Señorans signature. 192,000 bottles were produced.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91 RP

The young, balsamic and still faintly medicinal entry-level white 2023 Louro is dense, ripe and powerful at 13.9% alcohol, pungent and intense with a bitter twist in the finish. It’s very tasty, almost salty, with cleanliness and precision, combining power with freshness and elegance. This is quite impressive and a preview of the rest of the 2023s to come. 215,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2024.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93+ RP

The 2024 Caneco, which has a new colorful label, screams Albariño from Salnés with that mixture of sea breeze, flowers and freshly cut grass. It’s clean and expressive, and even though it’s still a little young and faintly reductive, it shows great balance and harmony. It has an austere and serious mouthfeel. 16,666 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2025.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RP