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Bodegas Y Vinedos Alion 2018, 0.75L
from Ribera del Duero, Castilla y León
"Fresh and very floral with violets and berries. Blackberries and orange peel, too. Medium-to full-bodied with firm, linear tannins. Excellent length and structure. Seriously structured, Better after 2024, but already beautiful." 96, James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com
"The 2018 Alión follows the path of the 2016: it is fresh and elegant and from a cooler (more Atlantic) vintage with more rain than the average and a relatively late harvest between September 28th and October 12th. They used 80% new barrels, with up to 10% made of American oak looking to (in their own words) give more sucrosity and sweetness to the wine, as it's a more vertical, tense and elegant expression of Alión. Part of the wine matured in concrete (something they started in 2016), and in 2021 they are experimenting with a 4,000-liter Rousseau foudre, as they want to keep working the texture and freshness. The wine is ripe at 15% alcohol and has a pH of 3.8 and a mellow 4.6 grams of acidity, round and soft. The wine matured until it was bottled in June 2020. The truth is that the wine comes through as subtle, elegant and balanced, with very integrated oak and a nice texture. It's one of the finest vintages for Alión..." 95+, Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate
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Price: $99.00
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Vega Sicilia Reserva Especial Unico (2020 Release) NV, 0.75L
Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero, Castilla y León
"To be released in 2020, the NV Único Reserva Especial 2020 Release is a non-vintage blend of 59 barrels from 2008, 2009 and 2010, mostly Tempranillo with some Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine has been getting closer to the style of the Único, and the blend is from vintages very close to the current release of Único, but somehow this year I think the blend has added some complexity to the bottled wine, which has the heart and soul of the 2010 vintage. In fact, they told me they are keeping more wine to have some older vintages to blend for this Reserva Especial, because in the last few years, the wine has been a little too young for the style that it used to have in the past. This has finesse and some of the Burgundian style of the blends of yesteryear. 17,071 bottles and 214 magnums produced. It was bottled in June 2016. Drink: 2020-2030. (Dec 2019)" 98, Luis Guiterrez, Wine Advocate
"The Reserva Especial is Vega Sicilia's unique version of a traditional Spanish classic, the blend of three vintages. The 2020 release is composed of 2008, 2009 and 2010. The result is a delightfully sumptuous wine, with a glorious supple texture, dense fruit and sweet spices Despite the intensity it has Vega Sicilia's keynote brightness, emphasising its youth." 98 Sarah Jane Evans MW, Decanter Magazine
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Price: $625.00
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Vega Sicilia Unico Gran Reserva 2013, 0.75L
Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero, Castilla y León
"This has a polished and complex nose of poached plums, dark cherries, tea leaves, graphite, milk chocolate and a touch of caramel. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm yet creamy tannins. Caressing, seductive and ripe, but with underlying freshness. 97% tempranillo and 3% cabernet sauvignon. Tasted from magnum. The normal bottle will be released 2023 and the magnum in 2025. Try after 2023." 98, James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com
"The wine is subtle, elegant and fresh, complex, silky and with precision. The wine matured in 225-liter barrels in an initial phase and then in 22,000-liter oak vats until it was bottled in June 2019. This year, the final blend was 97% Tinto Fino and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon with a little less alcohol, 14%, and a pH of 3.78 and 5.2 grams of acidity, fresh and balanced, more elegant and subtler. Único often transcends the character of the vintage and doesn't follow the norm in the region, and the 2013 is a good example of that. It was a very rainy and complicated vintage; they harvested quite quickly to avoid botrytis, and while other people waited for concentration, they did not, and their approach clearly paid back. It's aromatic and floral, less dense than the 2012, subtler, more expressive and more elegant. It's clean and fresh, tasty, with very fine tannins. It's a big surprise for the vintage and one of the finest Únicos in the last few years." 97, Luis Guiterrez, Wine Advocate
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Price: $499.00
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Vega-Sicilia Valbuena 5° 2018, 0.75L
Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero, Castilla y León
"The 2018 Valbuena comes from a cooler vintage with good yields that required sorting and selecting in search of a happy and vertical version of Valbuena, pushing a little more and giving the wine a little more oak, especially American (5%). It was produced with 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Merlot that went through a three- to four-day cold soak and fermented with indigenous yeasts followed by malolactic in stainless steel. The élevage was in new and used 225-liter oak barrels and 21,000-liter oak vats. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.8 and 4.78 grams of acidity (tartaric), so it's ripe and with mellow acidity that gives it a mellow mouthfeel. This is a very spicy vintage for Valbuena, getting closer to the style of Único (while at the same time I felt the 2018 Pintia from Toro was getting closer to the aromatics of some vintages of Valbuena, like 2010). It was a late-ripening year with a tendency toward freshness in the wines. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with very fine tannins that made the wine nicely textured and very elegant. There is a lot of regularity in the Valbuena of the last few years, here with more tension and freshness of the 2017, a little more balsamic even. 180,580 bottles, 5,528 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in May 2021." 96, Luis Guiterrez, Wine Advocate
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Price: $199.00
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Clos Mogador 2020, 0.75L
Grenache / Carignan / Syrah / Cabernet Sauvignon from Priorat, Catalunya
"The wine is more tannic and ... it matured exclusively in 2,000-liter oak foudre, and the impact of the wood is milder. A very good result, it's powerful but has good balance. The vintage is more tannic ..." 97 Luis Guiterrez, Wine Advocate
"Founded in 1979, the 20ha Clos Mogador lies at 350m altitude , surrounded by mountains up to 1,200m. The vines here grow on slate soils and the 2020 wine is a blend of 45% Garnacha, 29% Cariñena, 16% Syrah and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, fermented using 30% whole bunches and indigenous yeasts. The wine was aged entirely in 2,000L French oak foudres for 18 months before bottling. Beth Willard: A really dark and intense wine that speaks of the region. High-toned, perfumed notes and raspberry on the nose. Oak is well integrated. Big and rich, but with underlying elegance. Polished and serious. Diana Rollan: Dense and powerful nose with dark fruit, and notes of plum, black cherry, blueberries, sandalwood and dried herbs. Big and bold with pronounced tannins, but round and textured. David Williams: Complex nose with notes of blood orange, black cherry and Mediterranean herbs. Intensity but also drive on the palate; great mineral acidity, freshness." 95 Decanter Magazine
Only 11 Remaining In Stock
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Price: $98.00
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La Rioja Alta Viña Ardanza Reserva 2015, 0.75L
from Rioja Alta, La Rioja
"A rich nose of raspberry, crushed strawberry, blueberry, coconut, cedar and sweet spice. It’s medium-to full-bodied with fine tannins and fresh acidity. Creamy, balanced and layered with vibrant, spicy character. Long and polished." 96, James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com
"I tasted two vintages of their sleek and polished blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha, the oldest of which is the 2015 Viña Ardanza Reserva. It's a blend of 78% Tempranillo and 22% Garnacha (because they found that they needed a little more volume in the wine) from a powerful, warm and ripe year, very interesting to compare with the 2016. They consider 2015 a very good vintage; they compare it with 2001, a year when they produced all the wines. There are three wines from 2015, and there is something in common in all thee wines. The grapes were picked in mid-October and put through optical sorting to ferment followed by malolactic until the end of the year. The wine matured in used American oak barrels—the Tempranillo for 36 months with six manual rackings and the Garnacha for 30 months with five rackings. I find it to be more tertiary, with hints of leather and cured meat and a little wild, very spicy. It has a powerful palate with plenty of tannin, and it even feels that it needs some more polishing of perhaps powerful food..." 94, Luis Guiterrez, Wine Advocate
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Price: $34.00
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Abadia de Retuerta Pago Negralada 2015, 0.75L
Tempranillo from Sardon del Duero, Sardon del Duero
"Opaque ruby. Powerful, mineral-tinged red and dark berry preserve, potpourri and candied licorice scents, plus vanilla and baking spice nuances in the background. Sweet, seamless and expansive on the palate, offering densely packed black raspberry, blueberry, mocha and floral pastille flavors given lift and spine by a core of smoky minerality. Finishes extremely long and smooth, with slow-building tannins and lingering floral pastille and blue fruit preserve notes. Raised for 19 months in new French oak barrels. (Drink between 2022-2031)" 94, Josh Raynolds, Vinous.com
Only 11 Remaining In Stock
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Price: $89.00
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