| Country: | Spain |
| Region: | Rioja |
| Winery: | Montebuena |
| Grape Type: | Tempranillo |
| Vintage: | 2009 |
| Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
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Produced from 100% Tempranillo grapes, which are hand harvested from the Montebuena vineyard.
Brilliant deep ruby red color, fruity aromas .
Montebuena Red has a spicy vanilla bouquet and is smooth and fruity in the mouth with some well-integrated secondary nuances, full-flavored and a persistent pleasant finish. Pairs well with beef & lamb dishes, stews & cheeses.
Montebuena Blanco is made from 80% Viura and 20% Tempranillo Blanco.
What truly sets Montebuena apart is its unique position where the Ebro river is closest to the Sierra Cantabria mountains, creating a blend of Mediterranean and Continental climates that prevents an excess of rain and extreme cold. In addition, the shallow, calcareous soil limits the yield of the harvest and the size of the grapes while increasing the volume of the skins, resulting in deeper color and a greater concentration of flavor.
Montebuena Blanco is straw yellow colored, translucent with greyish hues at the edges. Dominant white fruit aromas of apple and ripe banana on the nose with citrus notes in the background. Fresh and intense on the palate, although the acidity gradually smoothes out as the wine passes through the mouth and gives way to sweetness combined with a slightly bitter note and silky feel that balances the first sensation.
Fresh salads and vegetables, grilled fish, young cheeses, seafood and shellfish.
Montebuena Blanco is made from 80% Viura and 20% Tempranillo Blanco.
What truly sets Montebuena apart is its unique position where the Ebro river is closest to the Sierra Cantabria mountains, creating a blend of Mediterranean and Continental climates that prevents an excess of rain and extreme cold. In addition, the shallow, calcareous soil limits the yield of the harvest and the size of the grapes while increasing the volume of the skins, resulting in deeper color and a greater concentration of flavor.
Montebuena Blanco is straw yellow colored, translucent with greyish hues at the edges. Dominant white fruit aromas of apple and ripe banana on the nose with citrus notes in the background. Fresh and intense on the palate, although the acidity gradually smoothes out as the wine passes through the mouth and gives way to sweetness combined with a slightly bitter note and silky feel that balances the first sensation.
Fresh salads and vegetables, grilled fish, young cheeses, seafood and shellfish.
Labastida 1786 Rioja Alavesa Edicion Limitada is made from 100% Tempranillo.
Color: A deep cherry-red wine with a medium-high depth.
Nose: Aromas of black fruit and fruit compote, spices, bakery and dairy products.
Palate: A long retro nasal sensation, that lasts on the palate. Elegant and silky with delicate red fruit.
RS: 1.6 g/L
TA: 5.26 g/L
pH: 3.68
This wine pairs well with roast chicken and turkey, bluefish (salmon etc.), stews, vegetable dishes and semi-cured cheeses.
Review:
"Intense savoriness and depth with spicy and smoky nuances lining the grippy tannins. This shows deft integration of wood. Flavors of prune, cranberry, blackcurrant and pear peel, with crunchy verve throughout. Moreish notes of manzanilla olives, curry leaf and saffron. Really vibrant energy and pull on the finish."
Decanter (March 7th 2025), 94 pts
Aiurri Rioja is made from 80% Tempranillo, 15% Grenache, 5% Graciano.
Chalky, mineral and pure, with blood orange and blackberry fruit and scented oak. "Aroma: Complex and intense, where black fruits accompany spicy notes, highlighting black pepper and licorice. In the background, the notes of aging appear, with tones of dry tobacco and leaf litter. Taste: Powerful wine with good structure, but at the same time with notable freshness. It generates very pleasant and elegant tactile sensations. It is a wine where balance, concentration and sensations of fullness prevail. Color: Deep cherry color with a high layer."
Review:
"A superb first release from Ribera del Duero-based Pago de Carraovejas, Aiurri is effectively a village wine from Leza, using grapes from seven parcels in the village. Structured, layered and refreshing, it's an organically farmed field blend of Tempranillo with small amounts of red and white grapes. Chalky, mineral and pure, with blood orange and blackberry fruit and scented oak. 2025-32."
- Tim ATKIN (Rioja 2024 Special Report), 94 pts
Aiurri Rioja is made from 80% Tempranillo, 15% Grenache, 5% Graciano.
Chalky, mineral and pure, with blood orange and blackberry fruit and scented oak. "Aroma: Complex and intense, where black fruits accompany spicy notes, highlighting black pepper and licorice. In the background, the notes of aging appear, with tones of dry tobacco and leaf litter. Taste: Powerful wine with good structure, but at the same time with notable freshness. It generates very pleasant and elegant tactile sensations. It is a wine where balance, concentration and sensations of fullness prevail. Color: Deep cherry color with a high layer."
Review:
Very well-made, a harmonious melange of fresh, plummy fruit with fine spices, warm bread and minerals. High-grade oak adds a bit of warmth. Medium- to full-bodied with firm tannins. Structured yet long. The wood tannins will integrate in two more years. Drinkable now but better from 2027.
-James Suckling 94 Points
Produced from 100% Tempranillo grapes, which are hand harvested from the Montebuena vineyard.
Brilliant deep ruby red color, fruity aromas .
Montebuena Red has a spicy vanilla bouquet and is smooth and fruity in the mouth with some well-integrated secondary nuances, full-flavored and a persistent pleasant finish.
"The 2009 Montebuena is 100% Tempranillo. Dark ruby-colored, it offers an appealing perfume of spice box, leather, tobacco, and blackberry. On the palate it is packed with ripe fruit, has outstanding concentration, and impeccable balance. It is a great bargain that offers a sneak preview of the great 2009 vintage in Rioja and northern Spain in general. It should drink well for 6-8 years."
- Wine Advocate (April 2010), 90 pts
The Montebuena Estate
In the mid-1960s, 70% of the winegrowers (175 vintners) decided to join forces and found the Unión de Cosecheros of Labastida, which currently ranks as the largest co-operative winery in the Basque Country, with a production capacity of 7 million liters.
Right from the outset, these winegrowers wanted to be involved in the entire process, from cultivating vineyards to barrel-ageing wine to bottling. Towards this end, the co-op has established its own brands and striven to enhance its facilities, equipping them with the most modern equipment available, as with its stainless steel tanks, a cooling unit for regulating fermentation temperatures and new bottling plant.
The Montebuena Vineyards
The ageing of wines has always been one of this winery’s passions and primary concerns. At present, the co-op has 6,000 American oak casks in storage, with an average age of five years.
Hall Wines The Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 96% Cabernet, 4% Merlot.
The 2017 Kathryn Hall is deep, dark ruby in color and elegantly balanced with layered aromas of concentrated blackberry, freshly turned earth, and a hint of warm, spicy oak. The palate is fruit-forward with underlying notes of rich cocoa and leather. Layers of black fruit, nutmeg, cassis and brooding earthy notes are abundant. Supple, seamless tannin abounds, and the wine finishes with an incredible dark fruit feed-back that lasts several minutes.
Review:
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall is a blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot, brought up mostly in new barrels. It’s a killer bottle of wine offering lots of ripe black fruits intermixed with savory herbs, melted chocolate, and tobacco. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it shows the lush, round, velvety style of the 2019 vintage and is already impossible to resist. It’s going to evolve for 15+ years if well stored.
-Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points
Chavy-Chouet Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Les Folatieres is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
Les Folatieres is among the most celebrated Premier Cru climats of Puligny-Montrachet, climbing a steep, mid-slope incline of thin, marly limestone with the bedrock never far below the surface. In the cellar of Domaine Chavy-Chouet in Meursault it becomes a benchmark white Burgundy, drawn from vines of around fifty years.
Fermented on native yeasts and raised a year in French oak with a fifth new, it is concentrated yet precise, layering ripe citrus and orchard fruit over flint and crushed stone, with the drive, depth and long, saline finish that reward a few years in the cellar.