Weine, ES La Rioja:

93/100 Punkte Guia Penin 2015

92/100 Punkte James Suckling December 2016
A deep and intense nose of fresh blackberries, currants and cherries as well as a fresh herbal character. Full-bodied and velvety with juicy, fine-grained tannins and a long, ripe and citrusy finish. Lots of grape-skin undertones. Drink now or hold.

92/100 Punkte Vinous Sep 2014
(all tempranillo; aged in French oak for 30 months): Inky ruby. Cassis, blackberry, licorice and dark chocolate aromas are complicated by notes of vanilla, cracked pepper and woodsmoke. Juicy, penetrating and quite primary, offering sweet dark berry, mocha and black pepper flavors sharpened by peppery spices and smoky minerals. Shows very good concentration with no excess weight and finishes sweet, gently tannic and long, leaving a sexy berry compote note behind.

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker, May 2016
There is a white produced with Viura grapes that is only produced in cold vintages, which is exactly what the name of the 2013 Añadas Frías means. The grapes are sourced from a 1.5 hectare plot at 600 meters altitude of clay and limestone soils. It fermented in new 500-liter French oak barrels. The analytical data show figures more common in Chablis than in Rioja; the wine has a pH below three and there's no natural way the wine goes through malolactic. The nose showed intense iodine aromas and diesel-like notes, highly mineral, with a notable absence of fruit and oak. The palate is also soil-driven, with very chalky tannins and effervescent, citrusy acidity. It has a tremendously tasty finish, almost salty. This is one of those whites that feels like it was produced with stones rather than grapes. This should age in bottle forever. 1,476 bottles produced and filled in March 2015. This wine has only been released in 2007, 2010 and 2013, really

96/100 Punkte Guia Penin 2013

97/100 Punkte Guia Penin 2016

96/100 Punkte Robert Parker Dec 2013
The 2010 Aurus is what De Gregorio considers the golden formula (aurus is gold in Latin) for blending 85% Tempranillo and 15% Graciano from a number of head-pruned vineyards in Briones averaging 60 years of age, which fermented in French oak vats, carried out its malolactic fermentation in new French oak barrels, and completed its upbringing over two years with rackings every four months before being bottled unfiltered and unfined. The difference here is that these are north-facing vineyards, with clay and gravel soils that produced austere wines. This is a much more serious wine, closed in the nose, elegant, su btle, with balsamic notes, mint, more mineral than fruity (produced with stones instead of fruits, I joked, but in a way it was true!). The palate reveals a tight, compact wine, with fine-grained tannins, straight and vertical, with great acidity and a mineral finish. 2010 is a superb Aurus! Drink 2016-2030.

96/100 Punkte Guia Penin
Color cereza, borde granate. Aroma fruta madura, expresion frutal, especias dulces, cacao fino, elegante. Boca sabroso, frutoso, carnoso, complejo, fruta madura, especiado, taninos maduros.

95/100 Punkte Guia Penin 2012
Color cereza, borde granate. Aroma con caracter, roble cremoso, especias dulces, mineral. Boca sabroso, frutoso, largo, mineral, taninos maduros, especiado.

93/100 Puntke Parker Aug 2012
The 2008 Aurus is a blend of 85% Tempranillo and 15% Graciano from 60-year-old vines around Briones that are aged for 24 months in Troncais new oak barrels. It has a supremely refined, feminine bouquet that unfurls nicely in the glass: creme de cassis, blueberry, crushed stone and a faint tang of marmalade. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, powdery tannins over-layering dense blackberry and raspberry fruit that gently builds to a spicy, well-defined finish with cocoa lingering on the grippy aftertaste. Drink 2015-2025

89/100 Punkte Robert Parker, Aug 2016
The entry-level red is the 2015 Bozeto de Exopto, a blend of 50% Garnacha, 40% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano from a warm, Mediterranean vintage that favored the Garnacha in a way similar to 2012. The Garnacha and Graciano come from Alfaro in Rioja Baja, and the Tempranillo from Ábalos in Rioja Alta. It fermented in a combination of stainless steel, cement and oak vats, and the élevage was also mixed--the Garnacha in cement and the Tempranillo and Graciano in oak, mostly well-seasoned barrels, but part of the Tempranillo was kept in the oak vats. There are notes of Mediterranean aromatic herbs, esparto grass and ripe plums, a year where Garnacha seems to take the lead. They got very healthy grapes, with notes of blueberries and violets, quite exuberant. The palate is juicy, extremely tasty, with fine tannins and good balance. This is a supple, exuberant red, very hedonistic, open and fruit-driven, reflecting the style of the year. 2014 and 2013

90/100 Punkte Vinous, May 2017
(fermented in concrete vats and aged for six months in a combination of concrete tanks and neutral French oak barrels) Lurid ruby. Spice-accented cherry, raspberry and licorice scents are complemented by a suggestion of cracked pepper. Juicy and appealingly sweet, offering red berry and cherry compote flavors that tighten up slowly with aeration. Shows very good energy and lift on the clinging finish, which features fine-grained tannins and a suggestion of bitter cherry.

89/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2018

90/100 Punkte Robert Parker Feb 2018
The fresh and fruit-driven 2016 Bozeto de Exopto is a blend of 50% Garnacha from Monte Agudo in Alfaro, 40% Tempranillo from Ábalos and 10% Graciano, also from Alfaro, to provide acidity and freshness. The destemmed but uncrushed grapes fermented with indigenous yeasts at controlled temperatures in stainless steel, concrete and oak vats. The different grapes were aged separately for seven months, the Garnacha in concrete, some Tempranillo in oak vats and the remaining Tempranillo and Graciano in well-seasoned, neutral barriques. It's a fruit-driven, slightly grapey red, and this cuvée, with its high percentage of juicy, round and ripe Garnacha, has more of a Mediterranean character. 2016 was a high-yielding vintage, perhaps more so for Tempranillo. This is precise and clean, everything seems to be in its place, and the wine has settled with some time in bottle. 75,000 bottles were produced, bottled in two lots with the same blend within one mon

91/100 Punkte James Suckling July 2017
Very sweet maraschino cherry nose, but in spite of that this has healthy tannins and a nice acidity. If the alcohol didn't show slightly it would rate higher. Drink now.

93/100 Punkte Robert Parker Apr 2015
The oak is a little more obvious in the 2012 Pujanza Cisma than in the Norte. This is also 100% Tempranillo from a single vineyard, a 0.8 hectare plot they call Finca Valcabada which was planted in 1925 and is located at 600 meters altitude. The wine fermented in French oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in French oak barriques for 22 months. The nose seems less nuanced than the Norte, with the oak taking the lead role and perhaps it will develop in bottle but today it does not have those flowery tones of the Norte. The palate is compact and medium to full-bodied with abundant fine-grained tannins that are right now a little stiff. It ends quite dry and would need a little more time in bottle to harmonize. This is a great, modern Rioja. Mind the price tag, though. 1'200 bottles.

93/100 Guía Peñín 2017

92/100 Punkte Robert Parker August 2016
The eponymous 2014 Exopto has an unusual blend, as it's mostly Graciano with 30% Tempranillo and 10% Garnacha. Sometimes Graciano does not ripen properly in cool vintages, so this cuvée was not produced in 2013. In 2014 they did a green harvest and lowered the yields to ensure proper ripening, even in a late and cooler vintage. It fermented in 1,500-liter oak vats with malolactic in barrel the following spring. The upbringing was in 50% new French oak barrels and lasted 18 months, the first six of which with the fine lees, which were not stirred. They managed a good ripening, harvesting quite late into early October. This wine mixes grapes from the warmer and cooler zones of Rioja, so it mixes the characters with focus in the Graciano. It is balsamic and aromatic, with aromas of peppercorns and a core of black fruit. The palate is serious, with depth and silkiness, as well as polished tannins; it is ready for a long life ahead. It could be d

94/100 Punkte Robert Parker Apr 2015
This might be a one-off, as it's a special cuvée to celebrate the birth of winemaker Tom Puyaubert's daughter in 2012. I'm talking about a blend of 60% Graciano with equal parts of Tempranillo and Garnacha from a warm, Mediterranean vintage that allowed perfect ripening of the Graciano (not always the case). It was fermented in 1,500-liter oak vats with natural yeasts and matured for 18 months in 225-liter barriques, half of them new. This is a harmonious, serious red that does not show any heat. To the contrary, it feels quite fresh, very spicy and earthy with well-integrated oak aromas and flavors framed by serious, fine-grained tannins with a silky texture and terrific balance that bodes well for a long development in bottle. Great modern-traditional Rioja. Just plain great. Bravo!

92/100 Punkte Robert Parker, Jun 2016
The one white here, the 2014 Horizonte de Exopto is a classica Rioja blend of Viura with some 10% Garnacha Blanca and 5% Malvasía Riojana picked from the old vineyards in Ábalos, where the red and white grape varieties are planted together--as they do not have any white grape vineyards. The white grapes where usually planted in the poorer soils to compensate yields, as whites tends to produce more than reds; however, they avoid the Calagraño, which they consider a grape that is too neutral. Volumes are therefore quite low; they produce around 3,000 bottles of this oak-aged white with the intention to create something with aging potential. The grapes fermented together and the end of the fermentation was in barrique, where the wine matured for one year. They talk about a cool vintage; the wine was bottled at 12.5% alcohol, with a pH of 3.33 and seven grams of acidity (tartaric). 2014 is somehow similar to 2013, perhaps a year with more ups and

90/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2018

91+/100 Punkte Robert Parker Feb 2018
The one white (so far) is the 2015 Horizonte de Exopto Blanco, produced with grapes from the scattered white vines intermixed with the reds in the old vineyards they work in Ábalos (12 different plots), usually in the poorer soils to balance yields. It's produced in a slightly oxidative way with a majority of Viura, 10% Garnacha Blanca and 5% Malvasía Riojana along with some other white varieties, all fermented together. Fermentation started in stainless steel without added yeasts and finished in barriques with an élevage of 12 months in contact with the lees, which were stirred during the first six months in barrel. There are some citrus and caramel aromas with good ripeness, and in a warmer and more Mediterranean vintage like 2015, it goes through malolactic, so the style of cooler years (2013, 2014, 2016) and warmer years is different. Here, there is more volume and more texture, but to keep the austerity of the soils, they look for freshne

91/100 Punkte Vinous, May 2017
(fermented and aged on its lees for a year in neutral French oak barrels) Light bright gold. Ripe tangerine, pear, tarragon and toasty lees on the nose, lifted by a hint of minerality. Dry and focused on the palate, offering concentrated orchard and citrus fruit, honey and buttered toast flavors and a subtle touch of honeysuckle. Closes smoky, tight and long, leaving a suave floral note behind.

92/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2015

92/100 Punkte Robert Parker Feb 2018
The red 2015 Horizonte de Exopto is a traditional blend of Tempranillo with 10% each Garnacha and Graciano, all from the village of Ábalos, including the Garnacha that previously was sourced from Rioja Baja. The aim is to show the character of the Sonsierra with freshness, balance, elegance and length provided by the limestone soils. It fermented in concrete vats with indigenous yeasts, with destemmed and lightly crushed grapes, and a post-fermentation maceration of one week. It matured 50/50 in 600-liter demi-muids and 225-liter barriques, 20% of them new, for 12 months. It's very perfumed, expressive, open, long and complete, with good ripeness but without any excess. There is good definition, with fine tannins on the palate and better-integrated oak than some years ago. This is sourced from the same vineyards as the white, which is why the wines share the same name. 10,000 bottles were filled in November 2016.

93/100 Punkte James Suckling July 2017
Sweet black fruit and fine vanilla from the oak. Surprisingly plush for this category in spite of the serious tannins. Long and quite polished finish. Drinking well now.

92/100 Punkte Robert Parker Feb 2018
The red 2015 Horizonte de Exopto is a traditional blend of Tempranillo with 10% each Garnacha and Graciano, all from the village of Ábalos, including the Garnacha that previously was sourced from Rioja Baja. The aim is to show the character of the Sonsierra with freshness, balance, elegance and length provided by the limestone soils. It fermented in concrete vats with indigenous yeasts, with destemmed and lightly crushed grapes, and a post-fermentation maceration of one week. It matured 50/50 in 600-liter demi-muids and 225-liter barriques, 20% of them new, for 12 months. It's very perfumed, expressive, open, long and complete, with good ripeness but without any excess. There is good definition, with fine tannins on the palate and better-integrated oak than some years ago. This is sourced from the same vineyards as the white, which is why the wines share the same name. 10,000 bottles were filled in November 2016.

93/100 Punkte James Suckling July 2017
Sweet black fruit and fine vanilla from the oak. Surprisingly plush for this category in spite of the serious tannins. Long and quite polished finish. Drinking well now.

94/100 Punkte James Suckling August 2018
Offers some riper fruits, in the prune and plum-paste zone, with a hint of black tea and some tarry flourishes. The palate has cool, sleek flavors of dark-fruit and licorice, supple tannins and a long, smooth finish. Seamless. Drink or hold.

91/100 Punkte James Suckling Jun 2017
A light lean but some good berry, spice and cherry character plus hints of walnuts. Medium body, good fruit and a linear, bright finish. Drink now.

91/100 Punkte James Suckling Jun 2017
A light lean but some good berry, spice and cherry character plus hints of walnuts. Medium body, good fruit and a linear, bright finish. Drink now.

92/100 Punkte James Suckling, December 2016
A deep and beautiful nose of ripe strawberries and hints of dried flowers and soft spices. Medium-bodied with medium, juicy and soft tannins and a long, fresh and fruity finish. Drink now.

92/100 Punkte James Suckling, December 2016
A deep and beautiful nose of ripe strawberries and hints of dried flowers and soft spices. Medium-bodied with medium, juicy and soft tannins and a long, fresh and fruity finish. Drink now.

92/100 Punkte Guía Peñín 2018