1981 Portugal

The alliterative ‘Treasure of Toro’ Termanthia is sourced from 120 year old ungrafted vines in Argujillo, their fruits crushed by foot and aged in 200% new French wood for a total of 20 months. The wine is suitably serious, its musculature betraying minute attention to detail, but not to excess. A deep colour is matched by profound and dark aromas and a richly concentrated palate which will gain further complexity over the medium and longer term.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer

Numanthia is a patchwork of ancient vineyards in Toro, touched by extreme climate conditions and also by the boundless benevolence of LVMH’s ownership, which has reinvigorated the estate and confirmed its place very close to the top of Spain’s vinous hierarchy.

Torresilo is a powerful, old-vine Tempranillo from outstanding vineyard plots in the Ribera del Duero and it spends 16 months in new French oak barrels. A further interesting piece of trivia to ponder as one pours a generous glass of this deep, dark and broodingly powerful wine is that some of the vines which offer up their fruit are on pre-phylloxera rootstock.

This is sure to raise a few eyebrows amongst the hardened oenophiles among you and is perhaps worth tasting for that reason alone! However that would do the wine a disservice, as the ripe damson, nutmeg and mocha aromas hold great promise which is fulfilled by a palate, generous and elegant yet restrained. The finish is mineral and leaves the drinker with questions that can only be answered by pouring another glass.
Nicholas Stewart - Wine Buying Department

A blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Cabernet-Sauvignon and aged in oak for 16 months, the nose of this wine is floral yet profound and fruit-driven with notes of damson, blackcurrant and cherry. The palate is far more mineral than the nose indicates, with great structure based on firm but fine-grained tannins and harmonious acidity. The wine is still in its youth and will develop for a few years yet in bottle. 
Nick Stewart Wine Buying  

A blend of 95% Tinto Fino and 5% Merlot, the Valbuena 5° takes its name from the village where it is produced. It is aged for less time than the ‘Unico’ or the Reserva Especial with the 5° designating the years it has been aged before release. The wine is made from younger vines (average vine age of 25 – 20 years), although their aggregate age would compete with most other leading wines.

It has a similar blend to its older brother ‘Unico’ and the Valbuena 5° is best thought of as a younger sibling. The nose shows damsons and plums and is quite floral with violet undertones. The palate is bursting with flavours: forest fruit and red cherries are underpinned by vibrant acidity. The tannins are ripe and sinewy but have a firm grip. Complex and complete. The 2009 is probably the best vintage of Valbuena we have tasted to date. It shows precision and focus but also conveys the richness, concentration and freshness of this great vintage.
Stuart Rae - Private Account Manager

Artadi El Pison, this unassuming 1945 vineyard, with its rather modest pad-locked gate and purely functional hut at its centre, does not immediately announce itself as the most celebrated vineyard in Spain.

One taste, however, confirms this fact. Aromatically complex, civilized and life-affirming, the wine opens up on the palate with great confidence, precision and density. Dark fruit, spice and hints of pepper at this early stage, but very very fine supporting tannins and incredible length.

Juan Carlos Lopez compares it to 2007, but feels that it is a shade riper and may have an even longer life. We also see a resemblance to the superb 2004, which is now approaching a second phase of excellence.

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…

The Especial suffix is used sparingly in Spain, so we can rely on its value. Herewith a case in point; made from 78% Tinto Fino and 22% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2009 has been aged in Alier oak for 20 months, and is a delight from start to finish. As with all truly fine wine, it is quite subtle initially, its attack hardly meriting such a noun, its evanescent floral elegance underwritten by hints of aniseed and blackcurrant leaf. Self-assured and dignified, this is an outstanding effort.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer

Hacienda Monasterio is one of the great names in Ribera del Duero. Located between the villages of Pesquera de Valbuena del Duero on the so-called Golden Mile, the estate covers 170 hectares, its vines all north-south facing, with plots of Cabernet, Merlot and Malbec complementing the Tinto Fino. Peter Sissac, who actually lives on the estate, is consultant winemaker here and it should therefore come as no huge surprise that the quality of the wines is of the highest rank. The wines (only crianza and reserva wines are produced) are matured in one-year old Bordeaux casks and the wines are consistently amongst the region’s finest.