The textbook 2023 Leirana is elegant, clean and expressive, with notes of white flowers and fruit, fine lees and herbs. It fermented and matured in stainless steel and 80% in oak foudres for six months. The palate is medium-bodied with good ripeness and a moderate 12.4% alcohol, keeping the freshness and balance and finishing with a bitter and salty twist.Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate 94 Points
Excellent Godello 5% of Trexadura - Fresh fine acid with a little salinity pear and zippy citrus with zippy white nectarine. Interesting supple mid-palate and finish textural phenolicLike Albariño, Godello true merit is hidden behind an ocean of less than exciting wines. In the hands of Rafael Palacios it transcends the benign, offering us true beauty and intrigue!The young, balsamic and still faintly medicinal entry-level white 2023 Louro is dense, ripe and powerful at 13.9% alcoh
Beautiful, savoury, with well-handled oxidative development, fresh yet energetic. Spiced, saline, a delicate sherry line, with a little cereal note. Ripe citrus oil on a flowing gentle mouthfeel. Love the dry crisp cleansing feel, super saline. Lovely.A great way to see a varietal Xarel.lo as a still wine and add the context to drinking top end fizz made with the variety. The acidity in this example if beautifully balanced, it shows just why it is such a good match for sparkling production.
Great drinking to be had here!Complexed by savoury and earthy layers with a little baking spice & hint of soft green herb. Textural with fine phenolics adding a caressing flow countered by a chalky play. Loads of fun. Laced with an elegant background funk over a delicate, transparent fruit core of depth & length. Thirst quenching, super fine acid.The slightly warmer climate of Condado do Tea allows plantings of varieties other than Albariño to thrive.Varietales is a b
Thrilled to be able to offer my thoughts on this special wine. Lunch with the full current release set from La Rioja Alta was thrilling. The wines are a demonstration of respect for the past and judicious use of modern technology combined with an approach that offer a style reminiscent of a refreshed classic. No fads here!The Ardanza is a ridiculous value. Coming on 10 years old. This is very good. The harmony and grape first tannin with layering of very subtle oak that wraps rather than in
Initially restrained on the nose it slowly builds through complexing earthiness & the fruit shines, with subtle generosity layered in from time on fine lees.Fresh, electric energy with the flavour to back it! Sherbety saline acid, super ripe lemon, super zippy, crunchy & juicy, with a phenolic crunch and play. Incredible transparency and delicacy.It carries a wee bit of spritz that adds to the already refreshing nature of this delicious beverage and will ensure it's longevity.
The 2022 Pétalos was produced with 85% Mencía, 10% white grapes and 5% other reds from over 90 hectares, 20% owned by them and the rest from 180 families. It fermented with some full clusters in oak and stainless steel vats and matured in barrels of different sizes for 10 months. It's clearly more Mediterranean, with notes of rockrose and other aromatic herbs, juicy and round, more fruit-driven, aromatic, velvety and very pleasant and easy to drink. It has 13.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.54.L
Excellent development heading down a very savoury line with a little shroomy funk that you often get in wines with this acid profile. That fine sherbety citric acid feel here too. The fruit builds, an excellent core of length and a balance of textural phenolics. Sating thirst with a lythe, transparent palate. Loads of tension, drinking beautifully now. A couple of years in bottle will see more on offer.It’s a wine that sits comfortably in its own skin. A sign that it’s maker does lik
Building in seriousness over the two playful entry level wines. The tannin profile much longer with a little more depth. More development and complexity shows in an earthy and savoury profile. This will build with a little time. A little spice and a delicate layer of well weighted oak at play.The 2022 Finca de Los Locos is slightly riper than the 2021, with 14% alcohol and a rounder mouthfeel. It matured in 3,500-liter oak vats for one year. It feels young and primary but surprisingly
Lovely shape, flow and texture fine, sophisticated and elegant. A strong follow-up with more immediate approachability than the 2021 with plenty more to come. Nice subtle reductive line. Complexing beautifully with florals and the saline twist.
Exceptional texture and length.To keep the volume of the 2022 Alberto Nanclares, they had to sacrifice the Paraje Mina, Crisopa and Coccinela bottlings and add them to this cuvée. They are very careful with the environment in their vineyards;
The 2012 Viña Tondonia Reserva comes from a very dry year, with 25% less rain than the average (at the time), resulting in lower yields of very healthy grapes that delivered wines with nice balance between alcohol and polyphenols, making it very apt for the aging in barrel. It had a slightly longer élevage in barrel, six years. The wine is aromatic with a developed profile, spicy and tertiary (forest floor, a touch of brick dust and iodine), complex and nuanced. The palate is full and round, w
Brooding and showing depth and length, just needing a year to settle. Savoury element. Opening up to show lovely depth florals, chalky, acid fine and long. A delicious Albariño with a lick of funk. Paul Kaan, WINE DECODED Sept 2025I tasted a super bottle of the 2023 Alberto Nanclares, which this year is quite gentle, with lower alcohol, 12.2%, and lower acidity but a slightly higher pH to achieve the balance, which to me is more fragile and ethereal. They used their own grapes, wit