Reviews
March 2025 95 Points Vinous Media
The 2019 Gran Vino de Guarda La Comtesse is 100% Albariño from Pago Cacheiro, hailing from a 1.4-hectare vineyard within Finca Barrantes. Planted in 1965, this is only the tenth vintage. Aged for five years—one year in 3,000-liter oak casks, one in concrete and three in bottle—it opens with menthol and oak, alongside creamy notes. Broad and compact with elevated freshness, the 2019 offers a saline edge and layered complexity.
March 2025 93 Points Vinous Media
The 2021 Gran Vino Pazo Barrantes is a 100% Albariño from Ribadumia, Valle del Salnés, Rías Baixas. After cold fermentation, 15% of the wine spent three months in acacia barrels with lees, followed by six months in tanks and at least two years in bottle. The 2021 opens with orange blossom and tuberose aromas, hints of herbs, acacia wood and soft peach tones. The creamy palate offers delicate tension and an elegant, floral finish, revealing some emerging tertiary notes. This is a distinctive Albariño shaped by extended bottle-aging.
February 2025 91 Points Wine Spectator
A pure note of ripe and juicy pear is enriched by a skein of salted butter, vanilla and creamed almond accents, while tangerine peel acidity provides lively lift and focus. Long and creamy on the palate, with minerally smoke. Hints of dried thyme and chamomile emerge to linger on the finish. Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay and Picolit. Drink now through 2032.
February 2025 95 Points The Wine Advocate
Their flagship wine comes from one of the finest vintages in recent times. The 2021 Marqués de Murrieta was previously called the Reserva and still qualifies as such, but it's not included in the name now. It was produced with 86% Tempranillo, 8% Graciano, 4% Mazuelo and 2% Garnacha Tinta from their 300 hectares of vines in their Ygay estate on limestone and clay soils with alluvial influence. The grapes were picked between the 27th of September and the 15th of October, and each plot and variety was vinified separately in stainless steel, matured in American oak barrels for 26 months, then blended and kept in concrete for a few months until bottling, which was a longer élevage this year. It's very spicy, peppery, with a combination of berry fruit and some incipient tertiary aromas, hints of forest floor and truffle. It's very Rioja, with clout, elegance and freshness and the elegant tannins that are the signature of 2021. It comes in at 14.3% alcohol with a pH of 3.6, denoting ripeness and balance. It's delicious, fresh and available. Bravo! This will be released in May 2025.
February 2025 92 Points Jeb Dunnuck
Made from estate-grown, certified organic vineyards, including three single-vineyard designates (Navarro-Fairhills, Walraven, and Dach), the 2021 Chardonnay Estate is a light-bodied white that is tangy in acidity and fresh citrus notes, expertly showcasing both the cool-climate region and coolness of the vintage, one of the earliest harvests on record in the Anderson Valley. Meyer lemon and a twist of lime highlight the aromatic profile, with more lemon developing on the palate as a nice complement to the green and Golden Delicious apple flavors. Fresh, focused and crisp, this is a food-friendly wine that should age another 8-10 years.