2015 Spain

This is Rioja – but not as you know it. Made from over 90 percent Garnacha and from the Rioja Oriental at the easternmost point of this region, it is pure, elegant and utterly drinkable. The unique freshness in this wine comes from the fascinating La Montesa vineyard which is planted at 550 metres’ altitude in the foothills of Mt Yerga. In addition to this, the purity and richness of sweet red and black berry fruit is testament to the huge amount of focus and attention that the famed Álvaro Palacios and his team put into each of the vines throughout the growing season. This is a Rioja that will not cloud your sense on the first sip, but instead will leave them invigorated and intrigued.
Catriona Felstead MW, Wine Buyer

With such an inky intensity in the glass, you know this is going to be a big wine. The nose does not disappoint, its velvety, rich, dark fruit interwoven with oak seduction. This is one of those wines that has evident winemaking expertise behind it, yet it flows with a natural ease. Wafts of spice and wood embers hint at the structure to follow on the palate. It’s a wine of considerable stature but with rounded tannins that supply just the right amount of grip. There is a sappy intensity that will open out the fruit in time, but right now this shows fleshy plum, chocolate and an easy, rolling finish. Lots to come for sure. Drink 2023-2034.
Peter Newton, Private Account Manager (August 2019)

The 2015 Gratallops is an incredibly fragrant wine. A field blend of 85% Garnacha, 13% Samsó (Carignan) and 2% white varieties such as Garnacha Blanca, it is almost Syrah-like on the nose with hints of violets and dark cherries. The palate displays a similar, Syrah quality with a wonderful mineral note of granite and an herbaceous freshness, yet a broader texture and lovely weight on the palate denotes its Priorat origins.

This may be the Village offering of the Priorat range but with a yield of only 12.75hl/ha it is hardly surprisingly that it is a beautifully crafted, long and superbly elegant wine.
Catriona Felstead MW, Spanish Buyer

Alvaro Palacios is one of the world’s great winemakers, crowned both 2015 Decanter Man of the Year & Winemaker’s Winemaker by the Institute of Masters of Wine most recently. Alvaro spent 2 years at Petrus before setting up on his own in Priorat in 1989, his wines are now consistently excellent and in the past few years have found a further level of refinement and elegance, they have found yet another gear.

The 2015 Finca Dofi also has a wonderful fragrance but is a very different expression to the Gratallops. Macerated red fruit dominates here bringing a richness and a luscious quality to the wine. The mouthfeel is concentrated and sensual yet the wine is still incredibly fresh with classic Priorat notes of nectarine, pomegranate and grapefruit peel adding a lively vibrancy. The brown slate of Finca Dofi makes it the warmest site of the single vineyard wines, and it really is rather gorgeous.
Catriona Felstead MW, Spanish Buyer

Alvaro Palacios is one of the world’s great winemakers, crowned both 2015 Decanter Man of the Year & Winemaker’s Winemaker by the Institute of Masters of Wine most recently. Alvaro spent 2 years at Petrus before setting up on his own in Priorat in 1989, his wines are now consistently excellent and in the past few years have found a further level of refinement and elegance, they have found yet another gear.

L'Ermita, the 1.40ha jewel in the Priorat crown, is just beautiful in 2015. Made from vines ranging from 76- to 105-years old, this has an exceptional perfume of red and black cherries, tangerine peel and exotic spice. The fragrant sensation continues on the palate with notes of cherry blossom allied to the dark fruit and mineral notes of wet granite.

This is one of those rare wines that manages to combine a round and luscious texture with a linear, lean and fresh profile on the palate. It is a harmonious, complete wine with an incredibly long finish. Álvaro refers to this as 'a contained force' and a 'live elixiar'; there is no denying L'Ermita's place as one of the best wines in the world and in 2015 it is truly exceptional.
Catriona Felstead MW, Spanish Buyer

Valdegines is the vineyard which provides striking aromatics and wonderful purity and definition.  A Plump texture and silky feel – not the most structured of the Artadi offerings, but shows the mineral elegance of the vineyard.

The 2015 Valdegines is an excellent demonstration of the angular, structured character that this vineyard brings. Sweet, blue and black berry fruits dominate the nose with an earthy, hedgerow note behind. The lovely generosity of fruit character is evident but this is also a tightly structured wine with solid foundations of fine but grainy tannins. The finish has a savoury note of smoked meats but the freshness comes through bringing harmony to the whole. This is the least expensive of the Artadi single vineyard wines but it certainly has the structure to go a long way. Drink 2020-2028+.
Catriona Felstead MW, Spain Buyer


Juan Carlos Lopez de Lacaille, 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 work being done here underlines the quality of the soils and demonstrates once again how Rioja is ripe (no pun intended) for a qualitative reappraisal at the top end.  These wines sit very comfortably at the vinous top table.

The signature notes of the 2015 Artadi single vineyard wines are the exceptionally sweet red and black fruit notes from the hot days in July alongside the wonderful freshness and balance provided by the slow end to the ripening period. This is a fantastic range of wines.

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

Fresh, very pure fruit dominates this wine, with an attack of almost strawberry coulis notes, broadening out into darker cherries and bramble fruit. The richer, red soils here give a gorgeous succulence to the wine, with a top note of sweet cranberries yet a fine backbone and poise. This is a really beautiful wine. Drink 2020-2028.
Catriona Felstead MW, Spain Buyer, October 2017