Eight wines from Bierzo, Rioja and Ribera del Duero. Tap a bottle to open its tasting notes, terroir and the story behind it.
Godello from Villafranca del Bierzo and Villadecanes, from vines averaging about 50 years old. Clay-loam hillsides with plenty of coarse stone. The climate is continental with an Atlantic influence, which keeps the acidity bright.
Hand-picked, then fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel. Six months on fine lees, split between used French oak barrels and steel tanks. Minimal intervention to keep the varietal character.
The easy-going label from Demencia, a small Bierzo producer led by winemaker Nacho León (the same house as wine 6). At 12% the 2025 is lighter than earlier vintages, which were listed at 14%.
Sources: Bodega Abierta · Mencía&Godello · Nos Vamos de Vinos · Vinissimus.
The El Aniceto vineyard on the slopes of Pico Gatún in the Sierra de Yerga, at 640 m above Quel in Rioja Oriental. Sandy loam soils. The label says the small plots are picked at dawn to keep the fruit cool.
Fermented in barrel and matured on its finest lees. That explains the creamy, toasty layer around the stone fruit.
Tempranillo Blanco is a natural white mutation of Tempranillo, found in Rioja. Queirón calls it a native variety unique in the world. This was the first white wine in the Queirón range, from a family in its fourth generation of growing, with a cellar in Quel's 18th-century bodega quarter.
Sources: Ontañón Familia · Decanter (2021) · Guía Peñín (2021)
A single plot, Marco Real, in Fuentecén in the Burgos part of Ribera del Duero, above 820 m. Under four hectares of bush vines more than 40 years old. The soils are limestone and stony layers mixed with white clays washed down by the river Riaza.
Hand-picked at dawn from 7 October in a hot, dry year. A 19-day fermentation with gentle pump-overs, the grapes chilled to 8–10 °C to hold aroma. Malolactic and 11 months in new Iberian oak (rebollo, Quercus pyrenaica), with lees stirred twice a week. Serve at 14–18 °C.
Iberian oak is rarely used in Spain's top regions. It gives the incense, clove and balsamic tones that set this apart from French-oaked Ribera. Made by the same family group as wines 2 and 8. The label motto: “Sobre ti van los hombres y los cielos.”
Sources: Rippa Dorii technical sheet 2022 · The Vine King · Delectable
One plot, La Dehesilla, at 700 m and facing north, planted in 1980 and 1985. It sits in the Iregua valley between Nalda, Sorzano and Entrena, sheltered by the Moncalvillo and Cameros ranges. A cool site where picking runs from mid-October into November. Iron-rich red clay with sand and old river cobbles.
At least two years in French and American oak, then at least two in bottle before release. The wine is not stabilised and can throw a natural deposit, so the label advises decanting.
Gregorio Martínez began buying vineyards around Sorzano, his wife's home village, in the late 1970s. The winery launched in 1998. Vivino users rate the 2015 at 4.1.
Sources: Bodegas Gregorio Martínez · Alliance Wine (2015) · Vivino
From the family's Cuesta la Reina estate, on poor soils. The Escudero vineyards around Grávalos lie at 700–800 m, south of Monte Yerga in the foothills of the Iberian range. The altitude keeps the wines fresh in this warm, eastern part of Rioja.
Fermented in steel with native yeasts and at least 10 days on the skins. At least 24 months in American oak barrels averaging five years old, racked six times, then at least 36 months in bottle before release.
A tribute to Benito Escudero, grower, winemaker and Rioja pioneer, “but above all a father, husband and grandfather”. In the early 1950s he made the first artisan cavas in La Rioja. The family has made wine since 1852. Vivino users rate 2011 as the best vintage of this wine (4.4).
Sources: Familia Escudero · Pinto Wines · Vivino · Rioja DOCa · Timeless Wines. The producer's notes are not vintage-specific.
Villegas is half a hectare in three parcels at Valtuille de Abajo, 506–522 m up. It faces north-east, so it catches the morning sun and is partly shaded from the midday heat. Vines average 80 years old. The soil is loamy sand, which the producer notes is unusual for Bierzo.
Spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel, then about two years in 225–300 litre barrels. The site is vinified separately every year and bottled only in the vintages the producer considers special.
Demencia's only Vino de Paraje, Bierzo's single-site category. The producer describes wines from Villegas as austere with great depth, leaning to minerality and volume rather than fruit. Only 507 bottles were made in 2021. Robert Parker gave the 2019 93 points.
The flavour notes rely on Parker's review of the 2019 vintage; the producer's 2021 notes describe structure, not flavours.
Sources: Demencia, Villegas 2021 · Demencia, Valtuille de Abajo · Ibervinos · World Top Wines (Parker, 2019)
Barreiros is 1.4 ha of slate on a 40% south-facing slope at 430 m, at Puente de Domingo Flórez. The oldest record of the vineyard dates from 1890. The climate is oceanic with Mediterranean tendencies. Mencía and Godello vines were planted side by side, an old practice for a balanced plot wine.
Fermented in open stainless-steel tanks, malolactic in 225-litre French oak barrels, then eight months in French oak.
Nacho Álvarez's grandparents, Floripes and Guillermo, bought the vineyard in the 1970s, and the back label thanks them by name. The producer calls its steep-slope farming “heroic viticulture”. Critics scored the 2019 at 92+ (Farr Vintners) and 17.5/20 (JancisRobinson.com).
Sources: Nacho Álvarez Wines · Barreiros collection · Farr Vintners (2019) · James Suckling (2019). Critic notes are for the 2019.
Tempranillo from La Pasada at 790 m and Graciano from El Pozo at 650 m, both in Quel. Poor, sandy soils layered with sandstone, old clay and river stones. The Graciano brings acidity and freshness to the Tempranillo.
2011 was rated an Excellent vintage by the Rioja Control Board. Hand-picked into late October, chilled for 24 hours, then five days of cold soak and more than 18 days of maceration. 24 months in new fine-grain barrels (70% French, 30% American), then more than 36 months in the underground cellar.
The winery's first wine, a tribute to its founder Gabriel Pérez. Fifteen years on, it shows the savoury side of mature Rioja: leather and cocoa over dark fruit.
Sources: Queirón technical sheet · Rioja DOCa · Decanter · James Suckling