Castilla y Leon Wine

Expert Ratings

93 Points Robert Parker | This deep ruby-colored wine has a nose of raspberry jam, cocoa butter, and herbs de Provence. It is bright at first sip, with raspberry, red currant, toffee, milk chocolate, and aniseed flavors. Vivid acidity and luxurious tannins stroll hand in hand to a satisfying finish.

91 Points James Suckling | Fine, plush oak spices with dark chocolate, licorice and bay leaves with fresh blackberries, blueberries and mineral. Structured and tannic on the palate with a full body and a spicy medium-long finish.

Winemaker Description

Clean and bright and cherry red wine with a violet rim. The nose is very expressive, highlighting the primary aromas of Tempranillo and the presence of red fruits. In the mouth it’s a balanced wine, with a smooth passage and a pleasant sensation at the end of the mouth. 

Winemaker Description

100% Tempranillo. Organic, Estate grown. Juicy, easy drinking wine with black currant and plum flavors.

Winemaker Description

An elegant, fragrant wine with great concentration and intensity. A complex and intense aroma, with a fresh mineral base. Powerful and rich on the palate, with fresh rounded tannins. A limited edition wine that we only craft from the best vintages.

The bodega stands in the historic Pago de Valdestremero estate, where the vineyards were already famous in the 16th century, producing grapes used in the wine served at the Court of King Philip II in Valladolid.

Producer Description 

The Pizarra vineyards are found on red metamorphic slate soils, which are unique to the village of Cebreros, folded into the mostly granitic mountain range. This slate soil makes Cebreros unlike any other village within the Sierra de Gredos region. Pizarra soil is located above 950 meters, up to 1200 meters, mainly with an eastern orientation. 

The wines from here have a signature expression: they are always fresh, complex, direct, and profound. Pizarra is a limited production wine produced from over 60-year-old, bush-trained garnacha vines, yielding 15hl/ha from the vineyards of Arrebatacapas, La Redonda, La Curva, Fuente Fabian, and Presidente. The farming at Pegaso is organic, and the wines are made with low intervention and minimal sulfur at bottling.

Producer Description 

Cebreros is both the name of the village and the appellation of origin in the southeast of the province of Ávila, within the greater Sierra de Gredos region, the mountainous area located on the continental divide of Spain. The region is unspoiled, wild, rustic, full of energy and light, and as authentic as it gets. It is a transitional zone where northern Spain gives way to southern Spain. The wines from the Sierra de Gredos mountains to the west of Madrid (aka Vinos de Madrid) have finally begun to claim their rightful place alongside other top wine regions focused on producing world-class garnacha. For many insiders, the region is now leading the conversation about this Mediterranean garnacha grape, now understood to be indigenous to Spain. 

Whole clusters are picked by hand in small boxes, with a strict selection made in the vineyard. The clusters are de-stemmed, crushed, and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks and large neutral French oak foudres. The wine is then aged for 18 months in new and used 600L French oak barrels sourced from different forests.

Aromatic and elegant expression of an otherwise deep and dark flavored grape. Delicious aromas of flowers, red berries and black cherries, shadowed by notes of orange peel, spices and earth. Supple on the palate with silky tannins and a refreshingly mineral finish.

It has a bright ruby ​​color with the grip of the fine tannins and an herbal touch that provides freshness.

Deep garnet red in color. On the nose it is serious and elegant. The evolution in the glass translates into an increase in intensity and aromatic complexity where fruit continues to be the backbone of the wine. On the palate it has a well-structured body with ripe, silky tannins. Easy to drink with a persistent aftertaste. Winemaker Description. 

Elaborated with grapes of more than 40 years old, is the best expression of Rueda and its terroir: youthfyl and bright, it shows fresh and lively varietal notes of sweet grapefruit and pineapple, combined with anise and fennel.

Bone dry in the palate, its medium body is coupled with a crisp, refreshing acidity to drink at all times. It will suit any type of delicate flavors and lightly seasoned white fish or seafood. Winemaker Description. 

94 Points James Suckling | Gorgeous floral character to the crushed stone and purple fruit. Lavender and sage, too. Full-bodied with chewy tannins and a savory yet crunchy finish. Dark mushroom and fresh earth. Super length and brightness for this wine.

92 Points Wine Enthusiast | Aromas of cassis, dark chocolate and leather set the stage for blackberry, cocoa powder, caramel, violet, orange zest and sage leaf flavors. Plush tannins coat the tongue and gums and drift off into a milk chocolate and cherry finish. This fresh wine from Toro is a nice example of a Tinta de Toro, the local name for Tempranillo, that does not break the bank.

91 Points Wine Spectator, Alison Napjus writes: Ripe and fruit-forward on the nose, though more restrained on the palate, this red offers flavors of blackberry paste, dried blueberry and cranberry fruit woven through dried sage, marjoram, warmed spices and cocoa powder, backed by rich notes of fresh earth and iron. There's a creamy nappe to the texture, while fine tannins firm up the supple finish.

90 Points Robert Parker | The 2020 Termes, the entry-level red, has 15.65% alcohol and a pH of 3.9 with 4.2 grams of acidity. The grapes from their younger vines, which have higher yields and keep more acidity, fermented with selected yeasts and 20 days of maceration and matured in 225- and 400-liter French oak barrels, 20% of them new, for 14 months with rackings every four months. It's creamy and spicy, round and soft, with fine-grained tannins and integrated oak (nearly 50% of the élevage was in 400-liter oak barrels), and it's rich but with the alcohol nicely integrated. This has a more commercial profile, more approachable than its siblings.

91 VINOUS, Joaquin Hidalgo writes:  The 2020 Termes, aged 14 months in French oak (20% new, half 400 liters). A dark garnet red in hue. The nose features violets and cherry notes along with a cedar undertone layer. Rich and taut on the palate, the tannins are softened by the calibrated acidity, releasing the sun's energy into a lasting, flavorful finish. The 2020 is a mellow Toro.  Drinking 2025 to 2045.  - Vinous 91

Winemaker Notes

Termes is the vibrant expression of Toro, a symbol of its youthful spirit. It stands out from what Toro wines used to be, for its vigor, freshness and vivacity. Powerful yet balanced, vibrant yet complex, it is perfect to drink young. Winemaker Descriptiion. 

Winemaker Description

Rico Nuevo is a relatively new player in the Spanish wine scene, but they’re already making plenty of waves. The winery is right near Leon in the heralded Gredos Region. All eight wines they submitted to Parker’s Wine Advocate got at least a 90-point score. 

The key to success here is the region of Gredos itself as well as the 77-year old Garnacha vines that the winery taps into. The region is known for making a more savory, higher toned expression of Garnacha, but Rico Nuevo really epitomizes that elegance.

They divide their own property with 40 micro parcels, all along the highest elevations of the north side of the Gredos Mountains. Here everything is organic and biodynamic and they’re very hands off in the vineyard, letting the gnarly old-vines do all the talking. It works so well.

Tasting Notes: Beautiful red fruit - cherry, cranberry, raspberry. Floral notes and Mediterranean herbs. 

Winemaker Description

Valduero has a clear purpose: to elaborate Reservas and Gran Reservas. Valduero 2 Maderas ages for three years. Intense, lively garnet with a high colored. Fruity aromas and balsamic notes, with details of cumin, cloves and nutmeg. A very well structured wine. Important aftertaste. 

Expert Review

92 Points Decanter | Deftly made wine, with intense fruit and smart oak ageing, redolent of Ribera typicity, with a modern and easygoing style. Very clean, well defined, dry and smooth in mouth, remarkably fresh. Persistent and fruity finish, if not particularly complex. An excellent entry point to Valduero's stable of great wines, which is one of the most notable in the whole region.

Winemaker Description

Produced from 100% Tinto Fino from vines age 30 years, aged 12 months in French Oak with minimal filtration. The result is a wine with a beautiful ruby colour with deep and intense aromas of red and black fruit with hints of liquorice and spice. The palate elegant and fresh with predominant fruit structure balanced by soft tannins and a lovely expressive finish.

It has the tannic richness of Ribera del Duero Tinto Fino, and smoky power from its oak, but the wine carries itself with some delicacy, its crisp fruit bringing fresh air.

Dominio Romano was established in 2005 when the Pares Balta family decided to to initiate a project in Ribera del Duero. Selecting the finest old and wild Tinto Fino vines in the best terroirs of the region, and farming with the utmost respect for the environment and tradition, the family produces wines that transmit the character of the autochthonous grape.

Winemaker Description

Wine made with only grapes, well-kept vineyards, and healthy land.” 

This is the mantra of Castellano winegrower Alfredo Maestro, a bright light amongst an abyss of industrially farmed, over-ripe, over-oaked, and over-manipulated wine-scape that is the Ribera del Duero these days.   

Alfredo Maesto is a city man, who has become a farmer as a choice and not because of circumstances. He is guided by passion and love, which we find in each of his bottles. His production is mainly of reds (Tempranillo and Garnacha) which can be drank both young and aged; then there’s the LoveAmor, the albillo (white grapes) pure which surprises even the most demanding of tasters. Alfredo Maestro manages some vineyards near Madrid, but mainly in Castilla y Leon, in Penafel in the Ribera near Valladolid (the Spanish Bolgheri), land which has always celebrated the most famous Spanish reds. To process natural wines in this piece of land is like finding yourself on the frontline in the Caporetto battle and yet, Alfredo Maestro, teacher both in name and facts, acting as a righteous Charon he takes on the task of ferrying heretic sommeliers from vanilla wines with shavings icing towards the right way of pure, real wine. Winemaker Description. 

Winemaker Description

An intense red-purple colour. Potent and elegant on the nose with a great complexity of aromas (jams, minerals, menthol, spices, wild herbs, toffee and cacao).

Great harmony in the mouth with very marked sweet tannins, very complex and full of flavours of black fruits, raisins, liquorice, coffee, ink and aromatic herbs. Persistent lingering finish. Excellent wine for aging.

This is a barrel fermented godello, with concentrated aromas of ripe pear, honeysuckle, white flowers and subtle nuttiness and bee's wax. Great tension, and creaminess on the palate. The wine is sourced from a number of villages around the Bierzo appellation in order to paint a snapshot of the region each vintage César Márquez Pérez.

César Marquez Pérez hails from a family with deep roots in the Bierzo wine region. Historical deeds in the town of Valtuille de Abajo date the ancestral origin of the family in this region to 1752. Cesar’s focus is mainly on micro-vinifications of old-vine Godello and Mencía from parajes (small plots).

These parajes yield widely differing characteristics depending on their soil composition (mixtures of sand, clay, decomposed granite, and stone) and the orientation and slope of the vineyards.

Ultimately, Cesar envisions making single-parcel vinifications and is laying the foundation to map this region in a manner parallel to the Cru appellations of the world. Winemaker Description.