Offre Wine in Black 'Rioja te quiero'

Berries and walnuts with some mushroom and bark on the nose. Full-bodied with round, juicy tannins and toffee, berry and chocolate in the aftertaste. 100% tempranillo. Drink now or hold.

Autrefois, le vigneron Álvaro Palacios comptait parmi un petit groupe de pionniers qui ont redécouvert le Priorat, dans le Nord-Est de l’Espagne, au cours des années 1990. Après que ses vins de cette région eurent acquis une notoriété mondiale, l’appel de la maison est venu de la Rioja pour y reprendre le domaine familial. Les résultats parlent d’eux-mêmes.

Sumptuous aromas of plump cherries, leading into equally succulent fruits on the palate. Fresh acidity arrives lightly, and then grows, leading to a long taut finish, with the sligh echo of oak. Very young now, it will give much pleasure as it matures. A fine achievement: 100ha of certified organic vineyard, producing wines in quantity (some 500,000 bottles) and quality. Over the years Alvaro Palacios has transformed this from a 50% Tempranillo vineyard to firmly Garnacha-dominant, with a shift towards bush vines from double cordon. 95% Garnacha with 5% other traditional red varieties.

I had not yet tasted the 2021 La Montesa, and I'm glad I did. Álvaro Palacios was super proud of this vintage, and he told me that "many people consider it at the level of a very good Burgundy village at a fraction of the price!" It is indeed a great value, even more so in an exceptional year like 2021. But it was unmistakably Garnacha, with notes of garrigue and aromatic herbs, red cherries and flowers. It fermented with 20% full clusters in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and matured in barrel for 12 months. It's clean and precise, with a lace texture, very fine tannins, flavors of red berries and herbs and a long, tasty, chalky finish. It has to be one of the finest vintages of Montesa to date. It has 14.3% alcohol, a pH of 3.5 and 5.3 grams of acidity. It's not a small cuvée; they produced 592,372 bottles! It was bottled in March 2023.

Beautiful berry-fruit purity with dark raspberries, pomegranate, some moss and subtle mineral and spices. Expressive and crunchy on the firm, medium-bodied palate with succulent berries and minerals. Pure and pithy finish. Drink or hold.

A tight, structured Rioja with blackcurrants, sandalwood, coffee and cassis on the nose, followed by a chewy, toasty and medium- to full-bodied palate. Firm, dusty tannins. Compact. Better after 2026.

The 2020 Imperial Reserva was produced with a blend of Tempranillo and 15% Graciano, Mazuelo and Garnacha grapes that were put through optical sorting and fermented in oak vats by vineyard, and the wine matured for 24 months in barrels, 70% French and the rest American. It has a shy nose that takes time to open up in the glass, but it is surprisingly harmonious and balanced and fresh for the year. It has a little more ripeness, but there's no excess at all; it has 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.65 and 5.44 grams of acidity. It has notes of spices, cigar box and ash, berries and wild herbs and a sleek and polished palate with resolved tannins. 150,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2023.

Thriving with fragrant blossom, rosehip and fresh cranberries and a sultry seam of cigar box oak, and furnished with a broad structure and opulent tannins.

Ce Gran Reserva fait preuve d’un équilibre impressionnant : tradition et élégance se marient à la perfection dans ce vin rouge. Un Rioja qui séduit dès à présent et qui cache un énorme potentiel de développement. Incontournable pour chaque cave à vin digne de ce nom !