Pago de Carraovejas Cuesta Liebres is made from 100% Tinto Fino. The plot is located on a terraced hillside located at 900 m above sea level with slopes that range between inclines of 30% and 40%. Red cherry color with purple hues. Ripe fruit aromas, vanilla notes. Suave and unctuous in the mouth. A strong and noble character.
The harvest is carried out by hand using small crates and after passing through a refrigerated container it is transferred into tanks via gravity. The alcoholic and malolatic fermentation is carried out in small French “Haute Futaie” Oak casks with unique and original local yeasts and fermenting bacteria from the vineyard itself, to bring out the very best of the terroir, respecting the uniqueness of each and every vintage. Clarified with egg whites and bottled by gravity with natural cork stoppers.
Review:
A benchmark Ribera del Duero when it comes to quality. Expect the fine integration of high-grade wood, showing notes of peppermint, spices, truffles, dark chocolate, grilled herbs and dark cherry and blackberry fruit. More restrained in oak use compared with the old vintages for sure. Full-bodied and resolved, with seamless, powdery tannins and a juicy, tightly wound finish. Even, polished and effortless for such remarkable balance. It has a high level of concentration, with plush, integrated oak. Drink or hold.
-James Suckling 95 Points
Pago de Carraovejas Cuesta Liebres is made from 100% Tinto Fino. The plot is located on a terraced hillside located at 900 m above sea level with slopes that range between inclines of 30% and 40%. Red cherry color with purple hues. Ripe fruit aromas, vanilla notes. Suave and unctuous in the mouth. A strong and noble character.
The harvest is carried out by hand using small crates and after passing through a refrigerated container it is transferred into tanks via gravity. The alcoholic and malolatic fermentation is carried out in small French “Haute Futaie” Oak casks with unique and original local yeasts and fermenting bacteria from the vineyard itself, to bring out the very best of the terroir, respecting the uniqueness of each and every vintage. Clarified with egg whites and bottled by gravity with natural cork stoppers.
Review:
"From the vineyard of the same name, the 2021 Cuesta De Las Liebres is a knockout, from a hillside vineyard of terraced vines. Aged 24 months in French oak, the first year in new, the second in second-use, all fine-grained, and bottled in June 2024, the tannins are well-integrated and dusty, nearly chalky. It’s truly a beautiful expression of variety, vintage, and site, reaching perfection in its fine-tuned, full-bodied layers of rich cassis, oak spice, and even a touch of garrigue. There’s lovely acidity throughout that brightens the palate, with beguiling notes of violet that never fade away. It’s a seamless, polished, gorgeous wine that will be hard to resist, though aging will continue to see it melt into one over the next 15-18 years. - Virginie BOONE"
- Jeb DUNNUCK (August 2025), 100 pts
Pago de Carraovejas Cuesta Liebres is made from 100% Tinto Fino. The plot is located on a terraced hillside located at 900 m above sea level with slopes that range between inclines of 30% and 40%. Red cherry color with purple hues. Ripe fruit aromas, vanilla notes. Suave and unctuous in the mouth. A strong and noble character.
The harvest is carried out by hand using small crates and after passing through a refrigerated container it is transferred into tanks via gravity. The alcoholic and malolatic fermentation is carried out in small French “Haute Futaie” Oak casks with unique and original local yeasts and fermenting bacteria from the vineyard itself, to bring out the very best of the terroir, respecting the uniqueness of each and every vintage. Clarified with egg whites and bottled by gravity with natural cork stoppers.
Review:
"From the vineyard of the same name, the 2021 Cuesta De Las Liebres is a knockout, from a hillside vineyard of terraced vines. Aged 24 months in French oak, the first year in new, the second in second-use, all fine-grained, and bottled in June 2024, the tannins are well-integrated and dusty, nearly chalky. It’s truly a beautiful expression of variety, vintage, and site, reaching perfection in its fine-tuned, full-bodied layers of rich cassis, oak spice, and even a touch of garrigue. There’s lovely acidity throughout that brightens the palate, with beguiling notes of violet that never fade away. It’s a seamless, polished, gorgeous wine that will be hard to resist, though aging will continue to see it melt into one over the next 15-18 years. - Virginie BOONE"
- Jeb DUNNUCK (August 2025), 100 pts
Pago de Carraovejas El Anejon is made from 93%, Cabernet Sauvignon 5% and Merlot 2%.
El Anejon vineyard is a terraced plot on a steep slope, oriented toward the sun and with great views of the Castle of Peñafiel. The soil of the narrow terraces has a compact, loamy limestone texture. The presence of the white-colored limestone calcium salts contributes to a distinctive minerality in this wine. Only made in exceptional vintages.
Review:
"A single-plot wine from the top terraces of the site from an excellent vintage, the 2021 El Anejon is powerful and truly outstanding. Tempranillo is blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to an exceptional end, aged 12 months in larger French oak barrels after a triple selection of the grapes. Sharp red fruit has an underbelly of herbal earthiness beneath the fruit, while tight, refreshing acidity accentuates the mineral-driven texture. Bottled in June 2023, this might be the producer’s best wine of the vintage, which is saying a lot, as they’re all of outstanding quality. This will hit a high point in 5-7 years and keep going another 20. - Virginie BOONE"
- Jeb DUNNUCK (August 2°25), 98 pts
Pago de Carraovejas Ribera Del Duero is made from 92%, Cabernet Sauvignon 5% and Merlot 3%.
The Pago de Carraovejas Ribera del Duero vintage marks a turning point in the history of the winery. From now on, the Crianza and Reserva are unified in this wine that focuses on the terroir and character rather than the time of aging. Its renewed label reflects the three key elements of this red: origin, soul and emotion.
Pago de Carraovejas Ribera Del Duero is made with grapes grown in the Botijas River valley, and planted between 1988 and 2011. Our work over the last 30 years has been geared to handcrafted viniculture, that puts as much care as possible into the microclimate conditions and the details. We have placed particular attention on the maintenance of the soil by plant cover that already grows spontaneously. It allows us to develop the ecosystem of the valley, which we respect scrupulously, using organic fertilizer and sulfur as the sole basis of our viticulture.
Depending on which plot they come from and the time they enter the winery, the grapes may be deposited in cold chambers to prevent oxidation and preserve the aroma. We carry out a two-part selection: first on the vine, where we choose the bunches, and then on a belt in the winery, where we remove the grapes that do meet the necessary conditions. The grapes enter the winery and are transported with the assistance of gravity. The deposits are filled slowly and gently. Depending on the characteristics that we detected when tasting the grapes, we ferment them either in stainless steel deposits or French oak barrels. For years we have worked with our own yeast that has been isolated from the vines by our team. This work is also partly responsible for the Carraovejas character.
The wine was aged in barrels for around twelve months.
Review:
The eponymous 2021 Pago de Carraovejas comes from a cooler year when they consider the grapes had exceptional quality. The bottled wine is composed of Tinto Fino with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Merlot with 15% alcohol but good freshness and integration of the oak after spending 12 months in 226- and 600-liter barrels. It's medium to full-bodied, with fine tannins, a juicy mouthfeel and a tasty finish. This is a more elegant Carraovejas. It was bottled in the spring of 2023.
-Wine Advocate 93+ Points
Pago de Carraovejas Ribera Del Duero is made from 90% Tempranillo, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Merlot
The most honest interpretation of the Carraovejas Valley.
Body, structure and balance with a vibrant background. Delicacy, harmony and passion for detail are perceived in a wine that reflects the unique character of the valley in an outstanding way.
The 2022 vintage was characterized by cool winter months and extremely low rainfall, reaching limits that had not been observed for years. Due to the good rainfall of the previous year, the vines had good accumulated water reserves, which allowed the vineyard to have a good phenological cycle and normal development. Budding and flowering were perfectly developed in each of the varieties worked, and a homogeneous and balanced development of the plants was achieved. The summer was excessively hot, with several episodes of heat waves, which were mitigated by drip irrigation. Veraison, which was slower than in previous years, and ripening began in early August and the berries developed very uniformly. Harvest began on September 12 and ended on September 28.
Pago de Carraovejas 2022 is the most honest reflection of the valley to which it owes its name. An environment in which the vines climb the slopes to form a unique landscape. On the surface, its tertiary soil of limestone marl, clay and sandstone outcrops force the vines to self-regulate and give their best. Plots that converge in an orography marked by its unique mesoclimate. The vineyards are distributed from the middle zones to the moors that exceed 900 meters in altitude; from the gentle undulation that descends towards the stream, to the plots that exceed 30% slope. South- and north facing slopes, each with its own personality, create the profile of the Carraovejas Valley.
The grapes for Pago de Carraovejas 2022 were harvested by hand after an initial selection of bunches in the vineyard. Subsequently, in the winery, a double selection was made: first by cluster then by berry. Gravity must production allows maximum respect for the raw material. During the fermentation process, indigenous yeasts and lactic bacteria from our own estate were used. The wine was aged in French and American oak barrels for 12 months. The entire process was marked by precision and care in every detail. For greater protection, the wine contains sulfites. Finally it was clarified with natural egg white and bottle in spring of 2024.
Review:
A concentrated, dense Ribera del Duero, but there is a lot to like if you enjoy plushness, with its lush blackberry fruit and dark chocolate. Fine-grained and full-bodied on the palate, but fresh and still pretty tense, with chalky tannins. Drink from 2025.
-James Suckling 93 Points
Luis XIV Fondillon Oro 50 years NV is made from 100 percent 100% Monastrell (Mourvedre). Only 24 9 liter cases produced.
The wine is produced in the village of Cañada, in the subarea of Alto Vinalopó in the province of Alicante. Made from 100% Monastrell planted on traditional dry land as bush vines, at 550-580 meters above sea leval and enjoying a Mediterranean climate with great marine influence due to the easterly winds.
Fondillon 50 years is mahogany in color with orange tile rim, medium layer and great density. On the nose, it has a very deep aroma of old wood, black tea and carob. In the mouth, it has a sweet entry balanced by a rich high acidity. Its aromas are long, almost eternal and very intense. It tastes like old mahogany, a very old barrel and bygone times.
Bottled in December 2019.
AGEING:
CASK NAME: Saboners.
AGEING: Aged more than 50 years (single barrel).
TYPE OF WOOD: 19th-century American oak barrels
CASK SIZE: 70 “cántaros valencianos” (805 litros).
ANALYSIS:
GLUCOSE AND FRUCTOSE: 34 gr/litre.
VOLATILE ACIDITY: 1.35 gr/l.
ALCOHOL: 16.2º (NO ADDED ALCOHOL).
FREE SULFITES: less than 10 mg/litre.
TOTAL SULFITES: 76 mg/litre.
Review:
Dark mahogany color, candied fruit aromas, fruit liqueur notes, spicy, varnish, acetaldehyde, bakery, complex. Fine solera notes, bitter flavors."
- Penin 2022, 99 pts
"The NV Fondillón Luis XIV has the subtitle Edad Superior a 50 años (over 50 years old), and it's a dark mahogany, bottled from a single barrel that has the specific profile of a very old wine greatly concentrated by age, which tends to make it similar to other very old and concentrated wines, be it a Mediterranean rancio or a very old Moscatel. It has notes of bitter chocolate, coconut and iodine, carob beans (algarroba) and some bittersweet sensations. It's dense and concentrated, and the palate is pungent, with very intense flavors and a bitter twist in the finish. This has 16.3% alcohol, 6.45 grams of acidity and 34 grams of sugar, but it comes through as very dry. The wine is long and extraordinary, but it just doesn't have any Fondillón character after decades of concentration by evaporation. The price is ludicrous. Only 435 half-liter bottles were filled in December 2019. - Luis GUTIERREZ
- Wine Advocate (September 2020), 95 pts
"Fondillón is an extraordinary treasure of Alicante, a rare product, made from late harvest, non-botrytised grapes, unfortified, but with a final alcohol of no less than 16%. Intense, aged, but not sweet (deliciously not more than 45g/l). Fab with cheese or dark chocolate. The wines have to be a minimum of 10 years; this release is more than 25 years. The project is a revival by David Carbonell of Vins del Comtat and two local families. Very limited quantities. - Sarah Jane Evans MW"
- Decanter (December 2021, My top 10 Spanish fine wines of 2021), 95 pts
Domaine de Beaurenard Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc is made from Clairette blanche & Rose, Grenache Blanc & Gris, Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Picpoul and Picardan.
Gold bright green color. Expressive nose with pear and stone fruits aromas (peach, apricot) with jasmine and roasted almonds notes. The mouth is smooth and fleshy like stone fruit we can smell, with a long a nice finish.
Review:
Always terrific, the 2023 Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc is no exception, and readers who love vibrant, age-worthy Rhône whites can safely buy this cuvée in just about every vintage. Based on 30% Clairette, 20% Grenache Blanc, 25% Bourboulenc, 22% Roussanne, and splashes of Picardan and Picpoul Blanc, the 2023 reveals a medium gold hue as well as textbook aromatics of pear and orchard fruits intermixed with honeyed flowers, chalky minerality, and subtle green almond nuances. This balanced, medium-bodied, vibrant white is very much in the fresh, focused, yet still textured, approachable style of the vintage.
-Jeb Dunnuck 93 Points