The warmer 2006 Viña Gravonia Crianza, a white inspired by the wines from Graves (hence the name), is pure Viura matured in well-seasoned oak barrels for four years and bottled unfiltered in November 2011. The nose does not transmit any heat whatsoever, s...
I tasted various separately vinified lieux-dits that will eventually curate the 2022 L'Hermitage. Both the L'Ermite and Les Bessards, the cuvée’s backbone, show terrific structure, finesse and complexity. I am totally taken by the sheer beauty of the L...
Bottled in June, 1997, this profound Mouton is more accessible than the more muscular 1996. A blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 19% Merlot, it reveals an opaque purple color, and reluctant aromas of cassis, truffles, coffee, licorice...
2000 Latour is a contender for wine of the vintage, a majestic First Growth flirting with perfection. The nose is backward and demands coaxing from the glass, eventually revealing intense black fruit, cedar, graphite and very subtle Japanese nori aromas. ...
The 2004 Viña Bosconia Gran Reserva is very open, expressive and aromatic right away—as soon as it was poured into the glass—while the Tondonia took time to open up. This has a very elegant nose, and despite having less Garnacha than the Tondonia, it has ...
I loved the nose of the 2014 Viña Bosconia Reserva, a red that sells at an incredible price for the quality, the problem is (like all their wines) finding it... They had to accelerate the harvest to avoid botrytis caused by the abundant rain during the ha...
The super bargain of the portfolio has to be the red 2017 Viña Cubillo Tinto Crianza, which this year shows more development and faster aging, with more tertiary notes than the other reds from 2013 and 2014 that I tasted next to it. The frost of April 201...
The 2004 Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva didn't stop growing and changing in the glass for the good three hours that lasted the tasting of the portfolio. I had tasted this wine on my previous visit (they don't usually open future Gran Reserva vintages), and I ...
The 2014 Viña Tondonia Blanco Reserva has a bright golden color, almost fluorescent, a complex and nuanced nose reminiscent of the 2017 Viña Gravonia that I tasted next to it, toasty, smoky and spicy, with mushroom and earth, pollen and herbal tea notes, ...
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 ra...
I had the chance to taste a bottle of the 2001 Viña Tondonia Reserva 10 years after it was released, and the wine has evolved beautifully and quite slowly—at least that is the case for these bottles that have been kept in the winery for all these years. ...
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 t...
The 2012 Viña Bosconia Reserva is perhaps a little too young (María José López de Heredia likes more polished wines, and for her this wine was too tough), with some tannins and the chalky texture from the limestone soils. This blend of Tempranillo with 15...