Wine Advocate (93)

The 2013 Aalto is a lighter wine, with less color, more freshness as it should be in a cooler vintage. It has a bright color which also denotes high acidity. The year was not easy and they had to work more on the origin of grapes: it has less from La Horra and more from La Aguilera, a cooler village, both in the province of Burgos, because in La Horra they had more frost problems. It's aged in less than 30% new barrels and the oak feels better integrated, definitively less oaky than other vintages. The nose has a combination of red and black fruit, spicy aromas and a sense of freshness, with even some violets. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with very fine tannins, abundant but well padded by juicy fruit, good acidity and freshness. This is a lot more fluid and balanced, with better-integrated oak than in the past. This is a fresher Aalto that should age nicely in bottle. 175,000 bottles were filled in July 2015 after 18 months in barrel. 2013 has delivered the freshest bottles of Aalto so far, a lighter regular Aalto and one of the best PS to date.

Wine Advocate (93-95)

When I tasted it, the 2016 Aalto had already been blended and taken out of the barrels, waiting to be bottled in a couple of weeks. It's still young and tender, with peachy aromas, a little creamy and with a soft palate where the tannins are fine-grained. In 2016, they used more vineyards, grapes from their own plots and others purchased from suppliers. They expect to fill some 280,000 bottles in late June 2018. 2016 was a higher-yielding year that provided fresh and balanced wines. It should age nicely. Javier Zaccagnini has left the Aalto project to focus on his solo project Sei Solo. So, this time I tasted the wine with Mariano García.

Wine Advocate (94)

The 2018 Aalto reflects the cooler conditions of the year, with a more austere profile, subtle aromas and a harmonious palate. This is a classic example of modern, ripe and well-oaked Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero, which this year feels creamy, juicy and balanced. This follows the path of 2017 with integrated oak (they used only around 20% new oak) and a lively palate in a more drinkable and approachable style. They added some new vineyards from the zone of Boada where the soils are red and the wines bring freshness and lots of fruit. The wine had a shorter maceration with the skins and a softer vinification. This is finer and more balanced, with finesse but still very much recognizable as Aalto. 300,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2020. They have a new white first produced in 2019 and a non-vintage red blend to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the winery. They are also going to release small lots of library releases. The 2018s reflect the cooler year and show more integrated oak, following the path of the 2017.

Wine Advocate (94)

The nose of the red 2020 Aalto comes blasting with tons of toasted oak, spice, smoke and more toast, ripe berries and a luxurious creaminess like the finest modern wines from the turn of the century. This is predictable but exactly what their customers are looking for, with ripe berries, generous oak and a velvety palate with volume, soft tannins and mellow acidity. It matured in French and American oak barrels for 18 months. Some things never change. 330,000 bottles. It was bottled in July 2022.

Wine Advocate (94)

The nose of the red 2020 Aalto comes blasting with tons of toasted oak, spice, smoke and more toast, ripe berries and a luxurious creaminess like the finest modern wines from the turn of the century. This is predictable but exactly what their customers are looking for, with ripe berries, generous oak and a velvety palate with volume, soft tannins and mellow acidity. It matured in French and American oak barrels for 18 months. Some things never change. 330,000 bottles. It was bottled in July 2022.

Wine Advocate (93)

The NV XX Aniversario is a blend of vintages 2016, 2017 and 2018 bottled to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the winery and is only sold in three-liter bottles in a special box. So, it is really a collector's item showcasing the house style. It's a barrel selection of Tempranillo from different villages and different vintages showcasing the house style—spicy and smoky, with ripe red and black fruit, a round palate and soft mouthfeel, and it's nicely integrated with abundant powdery tannins and some finesse. These are wines for the long term, and this shows more oak than the 2018s. 450 three-liter bottles were produced. They have a new white first produced in 2019 and a non-vintage red blend to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the winery. They are also going to release small lots of library releases. The 2018s reflect the cooler year and show more integrated oak, following the path of the 2017.

Vinous (94)

Dark ruby. Strongly perfumed scents of exotic cherry-cola, blackberry, vanilla and Asian spices. Weighty but focused dark fruit flavors offer striking clarity and palate-staining concentration, with soft tannins building on the close. The cola quality lingers on the long, sweet finish. This wonderfully balances richness and vivacity.

Wine Advocate (98)

The 2005 Aalto PS is 100% Tinto Fino from vineyards over 60 years of age. It was aged for 32 months in 70% new French oak. Saturated in appearance, the wine offers up notes of pain grille, balsamic, crushed stone, floral notes, and wild black fruits. Exceptionally powerful, focused, and beautifully proportioned, this full-bodied wine is dense, rich, and structured for the long haul. Give this super-long, impressive effort a decade in the cellar and drink it from 2018 to 2040. Patient purchasers will be well rewarded.

Wine Advocate (95)

The 2013 Aalto PS was bottled at the same time as the regular 2013 Aalto, which means less time in oak (for this limited cuvée all the barrels were new) and the vintage was a little lighter and had higher acidity. They also had to do a more careful sorting, which resulted in less wine. The nose is subtler and more balanced and integrated. The bottled wine has less alcohol than previous years. The fresher vintages definitively take the oak in a different way and the wood feels better integrated; there are violets, bright cherries and fresher fruit than in other vintages, showing more of the character of the place and the grape. It's very open, hedonistic, aromatic and showy. It's very young and accessible, but I'd wait a little to get the edges nicely polished by the bottle. It should have a long life ahead and a nice development. A very nice vintage of PS, but don't get me wrong, it's still in its generous and well-oaked style. 16,000 bottles, a shorter vintage, were filled in July 2015.

Vinous (94)

Saturated ruby. Assertive aromas of cassis, blackberry, cherry preserves, vanilla and potpourri, plus oak spice and mineral topnotes. Alluringly sweet and concentrated, offering intense black and blue fruit, mocha, bitter chocolate and candied lavender flavors supported by an undercurrent of juicy acidity. Steadily building tannins add shape and grip to an extremely long, juicy finish that emphatically echoes the dark berry and floral notes.

Vinous (95)

Dark violet color. Impressively complex black and blue fruit, floral and oak spice qualities on the nose; smoky mineral and vanilla flourishes emerge as the wine stretches out. Concentrated and sweet yet lively as well, offering palate-staining boysenberry and cherry cola flavors underscored by a vein of juicy acidity. Shows serious depth of flavor but comes off graceful, with polished tannins framing an impressively long, penetrating and focused finish.

Wine Advocate (94)

I saw more ripeness and a higher impact of the élevage in the 2017 PS compared with the regular Aalto. The year was quite challenging, and they had less grapes but more or less from the same villages: La Aguilera, La Horra, Baños... It's spicy, smoky and toasty, very exuberant and showy, ripe and powerful. The wine went through malolactic in oak and matured in new barriques until bottling. There are plenty of tannins and oak-related flavors. This has a very specific style: ripe, powerful and generously oaked. For fans of the style. Some 30,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2019.

Wine Advocate (95)

The 2018 PS follows the style of previous bottlings of this wine, selecting plots from La Horra, La Aguilera, Baños and Moradillo, looking for a similar profile of soils and the style of the wine. This is an exuberant, ripe and generously oaked Tempranillo that was matured in new oak barrels for 19 months. It's from a generous crop that was harvested between the 24th of September and the 19th of October, a slow and late harvest of fully ripe grapes that developed plenty of aromas and flavors. It was also a cooler year. This is a long-distance runner. Today, the 2018 Aalto is more approachable and shows better balance. 40,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2020. They have a new white first produced in 2019 and a non-vintage red blend to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the winery. They are also going to release small lots of library releases. The 2018s reflect the cooler year and show more integrated oak, following the path of the 2017.

Wine Advocate (95)

The 2018 PS follows the style of previous bottlings of this wine, selecting plots from La Horra, La Aguilera, Baños and Moradillo, looking for a similar profile of soils and the style of the wine. This is an exuberant, ripe and generously oaked Tempranillo that was matured in new oak barrels for 19 months. It's from a generous crop that was harvested between the 24th of September and the 19th of October, a slow and late harvest of fully ripe grapes that developed plenty of aromas and flavors. It was also a cooler year. This is a long-distance runner. Today, the 2018 Aalto is more approachable and shows better balance. 40,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2020. They have a new white first produced in 2019 and a non-vintage red blend to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the winery. They are also going to release small lots of library releases. The 2018s reflect the cooler year and show more integrated oak, following the path of the 2017.

Wine Advocate (95)

The heady and ripe 2020 PS follows the house style and the profile of the regular Aalto from the same vintage, with slightly higher ripeness, more creaminess and toastier oak. It's predictable and very good at it, with abundant, slightly dusty tannins and some chalkiness in the pungent, intense and oaky finish. It has 15% alcohol and mellow acidity. For fans of oaky and ripe Tempranillo. 35,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2022 after 21 months in new French oak barrels.

Wine Advocate (95)

The heady and ripe 2020 PS follows the house style and the profile of the regular Aalto from the same vintage, with slightly higher ripeness, more creaminess and toastier oak. It's predictable and very good at it, with abundant, slightly dusty tannins and some chalkiness in the pungent, intense and oaky finish. It has 15% alcohol and mellow acidity. For fans of oaky and ripe Tempranillo. 35,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2022 after 21 months in new French oak barrels.

Wine Advocate (95)

The heady and ripe 2020 PS follows the house style and the profile of the regular Aalto from the same vintage, with slightly higher ripeness, more creaminess and toastier oak. It's predictable and very good at it, with abundant, slightly dusty tannins and some chalkiness in the pungent, intense and oaky finish. It has 15% alcohol and mellow acidity. For fans of oaky and ripe Tempranillo. 35,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2022 after 21 months in new French oak barrels.

Wine Advocate (93)

The 100% Tempranillo 1996 Cuvee Campanario represents a blend of the finest parcels of Tempranillo. The wine was aged in 100% new French Limousin oak for 16 months, then bottled without filtration. It reveals a saturated purple color, and is more backward both aromatically and on the palate, as well as more impressive. The wine's bouquet falls in the black fruit spectrum of aromas - blackberries, black raspberries, and overripe cherries. Full-bodied and tightly-knit, with intriguing mineral notes, this powerful, rich, layered wine could easily pass for a top-class Bordeaux in a blind tasting. The result of 28 days of maceration, the high tannin is sweet and well-integrated in the wine's framework. However, I would not recommend drinking this offering for 2-3 more years. Anticipated maturity: 2001-2020. Congratulations are in order for this impressive new winery that is already turning out wines of exceptional quality.

Wine Advocate (93-96)

The 1996 Pago Negralada was to be bottled approximately a month after I tasted it. Made from a single Tempranillo vineyard, planted more than 2100 feet above sea level, the alluvial and clay soil mixture gives the wine a distinctive character. This is unquestionably a spectacular effort, displaying a saturated purple color, and a knock-out blackberry, chocolate, licorice, and earthy-scented nose. Exquisitely balanced, this full-bodied wine is crammed with fruit, yet it does not come across as heavy or overbearing. This wine has benefited from having its malolactic take place in barrel (which tends to integrate the wood into the wine earlier, and, some say, more effectively than when it is done in tank). The layers of fruit are ripe, the wine's purity impeccable, and the overall balance impressive. This stunningly rich, potentially brilliant wine will admirably showcase the heights that Tempranillo can achieve. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2018. Congratulations are in order for this impressive new winery that is already turning out wines of exceptional quality.

Wine Advocate (94)

Perhaps the finest vintage produced to date of their iconic Tempranillo is the 2016 Pago Negralada, which has a mixture of red and black fruit, some spices and firm but fine-grained tannins that give it tension and a chalky sensation in the texture. It's tasty and balanced, with good ripeness and freshness, medium to full-bodied, with stuffing and balance to develop nicely in bottle. I was surprised to see it has 15% alcohol, as it is very well disguised. 9,769 bottles, 611 magnums and 40 double magnums produced from 35 barrels. It was bottled in May 2018. 2016 marked the 20th anniversary of Abadía Retuerta, who came out with their seminal 1996s at the end of the century, and that somehow changed the view many had about the region just outside the boundaries of Ribera del Duero (part of their vineyards are inside the appellation, as the limit crosses the property). They have produced a 20th-anniversary red and released a white Cuvée Palomar produced mostly with Godello grapes and a red Cuvée Palomar in magnum to celebrate their anniversary. In the meantime, they fermented the first wine from the recovered ancient vineyard they found in 2007, which they have been recovering since, and they have filed the documentation to request the classification as Vino de Pago, the single-vineyard appellation that really makes sense in places like Abadía Retuerta. They now produce some 500,000 bottles from their 192 hectares of vineyards that are divided in 54 different plots, and they have conducted multiple studies of climate change—behavior of the plants and micro-vinifications of different plots—lead by the team of chief winemaker Ángel Anocíbar and consultant Pascal Delbeck. They surely have more knowledge of their vineyards than the majority of wineries in the zone.