2010 Spain

‘La Faraona’ is a wine from a single parcel of vines on the highest hill in Corullon, Bierzo, scaling 855 metres. The vines are south-east facing and have an average age of 65 years. The wine is bottled without being filtered and this adds to its depth and character.

The nose is mineral but there is a note of damp heather and a leathery, animal character which provides a nice contrast with the up-front red fruit. The palate is very dense and concentrated which bodes well for those of a ‘hoarding’ persuasion as a couple of years in the cellar are certainly necessary if this wine is to offer-up its true expression and stomp, flamenco-style across your taste buds.
Nicholas Stewart - Wine Buying Department

This vineyard faces Valdeginés in the San Ginés Valley, its west exposition engendering a wine with a different character, firmer, denser and with more stentorian tannins. 

Biurco is a vineyard that we have enjoyed visiting over the years; it has a tranquillity and beauty and, predominately west-facing, is particularly attractive in the evening. The soil is homogenised clay and limestone, and the wine is marked by the charm of its aromas; violets, truffles and dark chocolate to name but three. If its stablemate Valdeparasio is linear, this wine is more fleshy and noted for both the sweetness of fruit on the palate and the power on the finish.

2010 was an unusual vintage for Artadi, its profile marked by seasonal variations which are, it seems, becoming increasingly familiar in Europe, namely a very warm spring and autumn and a relatively lacklustre early summer period. After the cold winter of 2009-2010, with above average rain following in the milder spring, the early flowering of 2010 was well nourished and watered, just as well as later on there were real risks of hydric stress in the dog days of late August.

The conditions resulted in a longer than usual ripening season with grapes that were relatively ripe, with higher sugar levels than normal, lower levels of acidity and higher tannins. The structural integrity of the wines is very impressive and they do not lack for definition, mid-palate weight and tension on the finish.  These are, as ever, impeccable wines, which should drink earlier than the blockbuster 2009s.

(Simon Field MW BBR Buyer)

In the old days this 5.3 hectare vineyard was the source of the Grandes Anadas cuvee. A dense brooding oaky wine, with impressive Tempranillo definition and a beguiling finish which marries the sweet and the sour, this is ripe and powerful example with real potential for development.
(Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer, October 2011) The smallest and highest of Artadi's single vineyards, Montes El Carretil is marked by deep penetrating roots and a distinctive clay-sandstone soils. This Rioja wine is rich, energetic and dense, with very marked tannins at the moment and a fine mineraldriven finish. Notes of scorched earth, spice and black olive. A wine described by Juan Carlos Lopez, with no shortage of resonance, as ‘full of soul and life’. Sounds even better in Spanish…

Pagos Viejos is a continually evolving wine, its grapes sourced from the oldest and the best vines from this increasingly extensive estate. Grapes are also used from the single vineyards and one can detect their benevolent influence; ripeness from Poza, minerality from El Carretil and aromatics from the Valdeginés. The whole is more than the sum of the parts: a wine of incredible complexity and subtle nuance.

2010 was an unusual vintage for Artadi, its profile marked by seasonal variations which are, it seems, becoming increasingly familiar in Europe, namely a very warm spring and autumn and a relatively lacklustre early summer period. After the cold winter of 2009-2010, with above average rain following in the milder spring, the early flowering of 2010 was well nourished and watered, just as well as later on there were real risks of hydric stress in the dog days of late August.

The conditions resulted in a longer than usual ripening season with grapes that were relatively ripe, with higher sugar levels than normal, lower levels of acidity and higher tannins. The structural integrity of the wines is very impressive and they do not lack for definition, mid-palate weight and tension on the finish.  These are, as ever, impeccable wines, which should drink earlier than the blockbuster 2009s.

(Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer, October 2011)

Ungrafted vines from fantastically unpromising sandy single-vineyard soils are the source of one of Spain’s most exciting jewels, named, appropriately enough, after the pater familias of this very gifted family. 18 months in French oak has been worn relatively lightly with the cool elegant fruit already focused, taut tannins in sharp relief and natural high altitude acidity providing refreshing counterpoint. 
Simon Field MW - Wine Buyer

The scenic south-east facing 7 hectare Valdeginés vineyard is located in the narrow corridor of the San Ginés Valley, a couple of miles from the winery in Laguardia. This Tempranillo wine is energetic and fruity, with marked notes of truffle, clove and chocolate. The wine has an almost Pinot Noir texture, velvety and plush, and then a fresh and satisfying finish.

2010 was an unusual vintage for Artadi, its profile marked by seasonal variations which are, it seems, becoming increasingly familiar in Europe, namely a very warm spring and autumn and a relatively lacklustre early summer period. After the cold winter of 2009-2010, with above average rain following in the milder spring, the early flowering of 2010 was well nourished and watered, just as well as later on there were real risks of hydric stress in the dog days of late August.

The conditions resulted in a longer than usual ripening season with grapes that were relatively ripe, with higher sugar levels than normal, lower levels of acidity and higher tannins. The structural integrity of the wines is very impressive and they do not lack for definition, mid-palate weight and tension on the finish.  These are, as ever, impeccable wines, which should drink earlier than the blockbuster 2009s.

(Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer)

Valbuena 2010 has been aged for 31 months in a combination of cask and barrel, the latter of which are both French and American in provenance. Further bottle age before release has ensured that a latent harmony has been amplified, nurtured by Javier Ausás, whose winemaking is deferential above all to the what goes on in the vineyards,  now minutely divided into parcels, all of which are vinified separately. Nuance is all and power defers to elegance. 
The near opaque core cedes to a lively iridescent rim and a generous open nose which marries Asian spice and dark dark fruit….the palate is  more reserved than one would have thought, with dignified floral notes and very finely poised tannins underlining a near-Burgundian purity that is born of day-night temperature variations during the growing season and a clearly  Burgundian sensibility in the winery.
Simon Field MW - Spain Buyer

Macan is the result of a unique new partnership between Vega Sicilia and Benjamin de Rothschild born out of a meeting between Pablo Alvarez and Benjamin de Rothschild in 2003.  At that time Benjamin was looking for help to invest and produce wine in Spain and Pablo agreed, not to help but to become a joint partner in a brand new venture.  The new venture was christened BR&VS (surely the only unimaginative part of the whole project) and the two partners chose Rioja to be its home as both Pablo and Benjamin recognised its great (still largely untapped) potential and hugely admired many of its wines.  It took more than a few years to find and buy the right vineyards, amidst much secrecy to avoid speculation!  Once the very best vineyard sites had been secured, two wines were produced.  In the classic style of Bordeaux, there is a ‘Grand Vin’ (Macan) and a ‘second wine’ (Macan Clásico).

Being the second wine it is the more approachable and immediately likeable. It is elegant and perfumed with a nose of berry compote and spice. The oak is well-integrated and toasty with subtle vanilla undertones. The tannins are especially fine, grainy but soft in texture. The 2010 is characterised by higher acidity than 2009 and this has given it a lovely lift and freshness of finish.

2010 follows the first commercially produced vintage, 2009. Quantities of both wines are limited as, in the absence of a winery, both wines were vinified in rented facilities. A brand new winery dedicated to Macan (and designed by a renowned Scandinavian architect) is currently in the process of being built, the target is to start vinifying the wines at their own winery as of the 2015 vintage. 2010 was a great vintage in Rioja and one that winemaker Javier Ausas rates above 2009 for its freshness and elegance but also because he felt more comfortable with the terroir and therefore feels he made better wines. Having tasted the 20

Peter Sisseck, the consultant winemaker at Hacienda Monasterio, sees 2010 in the same vein as 2012 and 2008, that is to say as an elegant , ‘Atlantic’ vintage, a perceived virtue in such a climate and one which allows the wine full aromatic expression. A blend of 80% Tinto Fino and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine has an attractive nose of violets and eucalypt and a palate which is soft and rich, courtesy, in no small measure, of the 20 month ageing in French oak.
Simon Field MW -  Wine Buyer

Bierzo's principal grape is the obscure, indigenous red variety Mencía. While Bierzo is a relatively new wine appellation (a DO since 1989), it has a wealth of very old vines, planted on extremely steep hillsides, and in this respect it much resembles the Priorat region. Alvaro Palacios, with his nephew Ricardo Perez (who also spent time in Bordeaux), established Descendientes de J. Palacios in 1998 in the village of Villafranca del Bierzo.

This is almost the definitive expression of Mencía, its vines perched on a stark vineyard of pure schist, its wine distinctively aromatic, with a Cabernet-Franc-like garrigue and lavender freshness at the front of the palate, then real dark fruit concentration, fine new-oak tannins providing real backbone and support to the generously ripe palate.

This wine, a blend of Garnacha, Carinena, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Picapoll, is sourced from six of the nine villages of Gratallops. The 2010 has a dense colour then an attractive nose of forest floor, herbs, dark fruit and garrigue. Garnacha exuberance, albeit dignified, with dense serious grippy tannins and a fresh lively finish.

Alvaro Palacios is a little dismissive of the Romans, who had Taragona as their Catalonian headquarters, because they only planted grapes on the flattest and easiest terrain. The Carthusian monks, on the other hand, knew a thing or two about terroir and the terraced vineyards which they established in the 12^th century around the small town of Gratallops still make up the heart of the Priorat Denominacion. Alvaro is eloquent and passionate about the heritage of his vines; monastic mysticism finds preternatural expression in the extraordinarily intense light here, a reward for a location 10 km away from the Mediterranean and over 4000 hours of sunshine a year.  The vineyards are steep and marked by the distinctive licorelle slate soil, the result of ancient tectonic compression of clay-based igneous rock.
Simon Field MW, Fine Wine Buyer

2010 Pintia is a big gutsy wine with a lovely rich textured palate. Dense savoury plum and nutty oak give an initial impression of a Rioja on steroids. There is a sweet strawberry edge but this is subsumed by the savoury dark fruit, gentle spice, finely grained earthy tannins, a viscous intensity. Stylish and satisfyingly with a burst of fruit in the finish emphasising its class.
Peter Newton - Private Account Manager

Vega Sicilia’s owners, the Álvarez family, bought Bodegas Pintia in 1996. Located in the baking hot Toro region, just west of Ribera and dissected by the River Duero. Pintia is produced with 100% Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo) from ungrafted 40-60 year old vines. 12-15 months of maturation in oak from France (giving cool cedar aromas and structure) and America (giving vanilla and coconut flavours) adds to the complexity. The vineyards are steep around 600m above sea level and the hot continental climate gives powerful black wines with noticeable smoky notes. Pintia’s aim is to tame the wild heat of the Toro region and make a wine with all the powerful, rich flavours of Toro, but with structural charm and elegance. Extraordinary value for money; 2010 is a superb Spanish vintage, producing a Pintia which combines huge concentration and depth with real refinement. A wine to enjoy over the coming 8+ years

The 1945 vineyard now hosts a mini-museum in the modest barn-like building which doubles as an almost perfect location for tasting and lunch for pickers and visitors alike. The gentle sloping vines work hard beneath the surface, deep roots and exceptionally deep subsoil feeding the legend. The 2010 is still a little reticent on the nose, but the palate is already magisterial in its complexity, the purity of fruit at its core lending an almost ethereal character. The finish is long, finely etched and extremely persistent.

2010 was an unusual vintage for Artadi, its profile marked by seasonal variations which are, it seems, becoming increasingly familiar in Europe, namely a very warm spring and autumn and a relatively lacklustre early summer period. After the cold winter of 2009-2010, with above average rain following in the milder spring, the early flowering of 2010 was well nourished and watered, just as well as later on there were real risks of hydric stress in the dog days of late August.

The conditions resulted in a longer than usual ripening season with grapes that were relatively ripe, with higher sugar levels than normal, lower levels of acidity and higher tannins. The structural integrity of the wines is very impressive and they do not lack for definition, mid-palate weight and tension on the finish.  These are, as ever, impeccable wines, which should drink earlier than the blockbuster 2009s.

Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer, October 2011

Muga’s excellent 2010 is a blend of 75 percent Tempranillo, 20 percent Garnacha with the balance is shared between Graciano and Mazuelo. The wine has been generously aged for 24 months in a combination of French and American oak, none of which is new. An archetypical Muga nose, savoury and rich, with hints of crushed raspberry and black pepper, leads onto a concentrated mid-palate, toasty, generous and long, with chalky tannins providing impressive architectural support. 
Simon Field MW -  Wine Buyer