Tempranillo/Tinto Fino

Our 2015 vintage Rioja continues the excellent work done by sisters Maria and Cristina Amezola de la Mora. More structured than previous vintages, the wine oozes dark blackberry fruit, lifted by red fruit freshness. However, this is no simple Crianza: a dollop of Reserva wine adds a serious touch. It is long, delicious and extremely moreish.
Catriona Felstead MW, Wine Buyer 

Medium ruby in colour, Amézola’s 2015 Crianza has really good structure. Fine-grained tannins are complemented by oozing dark blackberry fruit and lifted by red fruit freshness which mirrors the elegant nose. As a Crianza, this wine has been aged for 15 months in oak (60 percent American and 40 percent French). This gives the wine hints of vanilla spice and nutmeg which are beautifully combined with generous, ripe fruit notes. Ready to drink now, try this with charcuterie or roast pork belly.
Lucy Bland, Buying Assistant

This is instantly seductive, with notes of cedar, wood smoke and punnet-loads of ripe, plummy fruit. This is a blend of Garnacha (88 percent) and Tempranillo, grown in a single vineyard on the slopes Mount Yerga. Twelve months in French oak – half of it new – contribute to its voluptuous mouth-feel, while the effects of altitude, as well as the deft timing of the 2014 harvest, ensure it remains fresh and lithe. A great match for all manner of meat dishes, but rabbit paella would be top of my list.

This Crianza spends 13 months gently maturing in barrel, then a further year in bottle prior to release. It displays ripe fruit notes while remaining remarkably fresh thanks to the region’s significant diurnal shift. Deep ruby in colour, the wine offers aromas of black cherry, blackcurrant, forest fruits and fresher raspberry notes alongside subtle hints of cedar and nutmeg. On the palate, it is fleshy but structured, with a finesse and silkiness that lingers on the finish. Ready to drink now.
Lucy Bland, Assistant Buyer

Deep ruby in colour, this wine is vibrant and energetic from the offset. Made from 100 percent old-vine Garnacha, this wine displays ripe, expressive aromas of red cherry, raspberry and strawberry, accompanied by hints of dried, wild herbs, violet, cedar and toast. On the palate there is remarkable freshness thanks to the vineyards’ high elevation. The smooth tannins and oaky flavours are exceptionally well integrated and create a moreish, velvety texture and lingering finish. This would be fantastic alongside paella or a lamb tagine. Drink now to 2023.
Lucy Bland, Buying Assistant

One of Cillar de Silos’s best yet, the 2015 Viña de Amalio offers a perfume of black raspberry leaf and a core of red plums and damson fruit. Gentle aeration brings further complexities with notes of sweet earth and spices. Perfectly aligned silky tannins caress the palate, laden with flavours of wild raspberry and blackberries, complemented by attractive clove and chocolate notes. Powerful yet restrained, there’s depth and volume across the palate, and proof that all the components are working in harmony as you are left with a moreish finish of well-defined fruit and an elegant freshness. A wine of great stature which will only get better, I’d recommend leaving this for a few years and enjoy from 2021 to 2032.
Chris Lamb, Private Account Manager

Bodegas Muga is one of the great names of Rioja, located in the centre of Haro, a stone’s throw from López de Heredia and La Rioja Alta. Founded in 1932, Muga remains family owned. This wine is a superb effort from the warm 2009 vintage, sitting happily alongside the best Prado Eneas.

The nose reveals a wealth of hedgerow and forest fruits muddled together with notes of sweet spice and vanillin. Underneath sits a core of dense, ripe blackberry and mulberry fruit. The palate is characterised by a beautiful silkiness, ripe yet gradually building tannins provide structure for the richness of the blackberry, wild strawberry and damson fruit. Full and rich with great power, held together by the wine’s underlying freshness, this is an almost hedonistic Prado Enea which will develop into a beauty over the coming decade and beyond. Drink 2020-2032+.

The 2013 vintage was tricky in Ribera del Duero but Alión is a triumph. Sweet red Victoria plum notes on the nose are allied with a gentle strawberry perfume. This sweet strawberry and cranberry character continues on the palate but is held in check by the high level of very fine tannins which add precision and focus. This is a pretty, elegant Alión with much more subtlety than the 2012. It would be gorgeous to drink soon and will mellow even more over the next 10 years. Drink now to 2024.
Catriona Felstead MW, Wine Buyer

‘Powerful’ and ‘dense’ appear repeatedly in my tasting note. Afternoon and evening sun produce more ripeness at La Poza, a sense of exuberance which is tempered by fine acidity and floral characters. Mouthfilling tannins, but supple enough to make this approachable in five years or so. Generous with good ageing potential.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer

Juan Carlos López de Lacalle, owner and winemaker of Artadi, is recognised as one of the greatest names in the business in Spain. The winery was once a co-operative of 13 growers who owned well-sited vineyards around the town of Laguardia in the Alavesa wine region of Rioja. Juan Carlos saw the potential of these wonderful vineyards and purchased the Bodega, immediately amending the philosophy and style of winemaking. The winemaking is modern with an emphasis upon fruit driven wines, characterised by the terroir of individual vineyard sites – a far cry from the philosophy of traditional Rioja producers. French oak is used, not American, allowing the principle variety, Tempranillo, eloquent natural expression.

I’m a huge fan of this wine having enjoyed many back vintages over the last few years. The 2010 is a stupendous effort, a wine which comprises power, depth and concentrated fruit, all finely wrapped up with a sensational texture. Displaying aromas of forest fruits, allspice, and a sweet earthy character, the palate delivers a framework of refined oak and broad, ripe tannins. A mouth filling richness of flavour meets the mid-palate combining flavours of damson, crushed blackberries and balsamic, held in tension by a finite acidity. Layered and complex, I have great confidence this may even surpass the fantastic 2001 in 10 years’ time. Superb from magnum with a bright future ahead, recommended drinking from 2020 – 2045+
Chris Lamb, Private Account Manager

El Carretil is a richer wine, more densely textured, with notes of mocha and blueberry evidenced on the nose. The fruit character is etched with lapidary care and the finish has poise, freshness and length. 
Simon Field -Wine Buyer

Bin end – limited quantities at a discounted price.

If Calvario is Miguel Ángel’s Burgundy then his Bordeaux is this polymesmeric effort, Aurus. Made from 85% Tempranillo and 15% Mazuelo, this has been aged in new oak for 24 months. Already it is harmonious on the palate, with dark commanding fruits, hints of raisin and liquorice, and very firmly managed tannins. It is persistent and bristling with potential.
Simon Field MW - Wine Buyer

Finca Allende, the estate created by brother and sister team Mercedes and Miguel Ángel de Gregorio, is located in the hill town of Briones in the Rioja Alta. ‘Allende’ can be roughly translated as ‘further’; its philosophy being to go further and further towards creating the perfect Rioja. This has been done by marrying the old and the new, by embracing the traditional grape varieties but then treating them to new French oak.

Until 21st January this product is discounted by 20 percent. Price shown includes saving.*
The jewel in the crown of this remarkable estate. This outstanding Rioja shows the full potential of the Tempranillo grape, with a tiny amount of Garnacha, for flesh and meatiness. A soaring nose of perfume, strawberries, raspberries and vanilla, combined perfectly with tilled earth, roasted meats and cinnamon. The palate has exceptional power, yet perfect poise, which is always the sign of a great wine: layers and layers of fruit develop on the palate, which is at the same time spicy and savoury. Eventually the soft, smooth weight gives way to an ethereal, fine, yet driven finish of bright acidity, fine tannins and delicate flavours of rosemary and red fruits. 
Simon Field MW - Wine Buyer

Following on from the huge success of the 2012 Spanish Gold offer, the team at Berry Bros. & Rudd knew that we would have to find some truly outstanding new wines to better the offer in 2013. Fortunately we have done just that and are very proud to present our latest, major Rioja producer, Bodega Contador. The property was founded as recently as 1995, but the fact that it has become one of Rioja’s most respected wineries in such a relatively short time, is testament to its superb terroir and the brilliant wine making skill of proprietor Benjamin Romeo. Starting off with an awe inspiring cellar hewn into the rock beneath the Castle of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, finding extra space in his parents’ garage, where he crafted the stunning 2004 and 2005 vintages, which both received 100 points from the Wine Advocate. In 2008 Benjamin completed his new, state of the art winery, built into the hills of Rioja surrounded by his vineyards. Benjamin’s wine making is relatively modern, with individual vineyard plots farmed to very small yields and vinified separately, before ageing for a comparatively short 18-20 months in new French oak (as opposed to the traditional American oak). The results are extraordinary.


*Discount is already applied to the single-bottle price and no further discount will be applied at checkout. 

2007 Unico has been released before the sturdier 2005 and has self-evidently not enjoyed the ten years of ageing traditionally associated with this famous wine. 64 months of wood ageing, divided almost equally between barrel and foudre, has, however, given this classic blend ( 95% Tempranillo and 5% Merlot) plenty of time to gather its thoughts and to demonstrate its inherent class. A more feminine Unico than some, perhaps, but also more precise and poised and , to my palate at least, purer and more approachable in relative youth than some of its forebears. Ageing potential has not been entirely forsaken, however, as the sturdy tannins at the back and lingering savoury notes both serve to emphasise. A Unico for all seasons in other words, underlining once again the significance of the work done in the vineyards under the Alvarez regime and the unrivalled gifts of Javier Ausás as a winemaker.
Simon Field MW - Spain buyer

Lovely perfume of blackcurrant, blueberry and damson entices you back for one sniff after the other, each one giving up a lovely open knit berry scent.  The palate is medium bodied, savoury notes of earth, espresso abound – properly old world in style with an exuberance of fruit and yet held down with a beautifully poised structure of taught tannin and good acidity. The Unico 2007 is again example of why this estate produces some of the best wines in Spain if not in the world.  The 2007 vintage displays a wine that will be eminently drinkable from 3 – 5 years and yet will age gracefully into 2025 +.
Stuart Rae - Private Account Manager

2012 is an excellent vintage in Ribera del Duero, shown to great effect here. Dark and robust, there’s an attractive bloody character to the fruit. Supple and gentle throughout with a lovely creaminess to the fruit. Lots of violets on the finish, with herbs and spicy richness. Drink 2016 - 2021

Following a vintage as profound as 2004, 2005 has come as a very pleasant surprise.  Many Spanish producers have on the whole been cautiously subdued regarding the 2005 vintage, partly due to wariness of declaring back to back exceptional vintages.  Although slightly different in style to the 2004, this new 2005 release is arguably its equal.  There is less structure, and more finesse but it is exactly what we now expect from this wonderful Gran Reserva.  A sweet, dark cherry and wild raspberry core is bolstered by that classic creaminess to the fruit.  There’s the classic vanilla, and sweet spice hints that you’d expect but this is tempered by fine acidity, very clean and fresh, serious precision for a wine of this style.  Light on its feet right across the long palate, but not at the expense of vibrancy; this can be enjoyed direct from release or cellared for the long term.  One only has to look at the cost of mature vintages (’94, ’85, ‘82) to see the benefit of buying at first release.   
Martyn Rolph - Private Account Manager
Until 31st August 2017 this product is discounted by 21%. Prices shown include discount; no further discount will be applied at checkout.