Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019 - 100

33RD A N N UA L B U YI NG G UI D E

Wine & Spirits

and Fernando Garcia, the forces behind
Comando G in the hills outside of Madrid.
The newcomers have shifted the farming
toward organic practices and separated out
some interesting selections, like this blend of
caíño longo, brancellao and a little tintilla,
from vines planted in 1935. I had the kind of
emotional and physical reaction to this wine
that made me question whether it was just
the pull of memories, of a summer on the
beach in Galicia when I was 12 years old. So,
I gave a glass to Rachel DelRocco Terrazzas,
our tastings editor, who described it as "super
serious wine-every time I go back to it, I get
something different-floral, smoke, chocolate, plum. The way it dissipates in the mouth
is like a fairy godmother saying, 'Here's some
beautiful wine.' Poof. And then it tingles on
and on." (W&S 8/19) § De Maison Selections,
Chapel Hill, NC -J.G.
271061

96 | Raúl Pérez

$75

2017 Ribeira Sacra La Penitencia ^ This parcel of centenarian vines has a similar mix of
varieties as Pérez's El Pecado. But the 2017
La Penitencia delivers a deeper, more energypacked wine. This is a thoroughbred built on
anise-scented tannins and the concentrated
flavor of tiny forest berries. Its structure is
more parallel to a great Barolo than to most
Ribeira Sacra wines, but it may seem that
way only because wines of this stature and
grace are rare in this region. If this is peni-

tence for Raúl Pérez's sins, those sins may
have led him to create a wine that is no longer
overtly Spanish, or only Spanish in its austere
celestial beauty. (W&S 8/19) § Skurnik Wines
& Spirits, NY -J.G.

BEST RIBERA DEL DUERO
270229

95 | Vega-Sicilia

$715

Ribera del Duero Unico Reserva Especial ^
Deliciously retro, this is a taste of 19th-century Spain, when it was accepted practice to
blend vintages to improve a sketchy year or,
in this case, to offer the best possible wine
from the cellar. Pablo Alvarez, the proprietor of Vega-Sicilia, holds back less than ten
percent of each vintage of Unico for Reserva
Especial; this latest release contains wines
from 2006, 2007 and 2009. It has the supple luxury of the best Spanish leather, the
spicy warmth of dried figs and dates yielding a cool, silken freshness, as if oxygen could
reinvest that fruit with juiciness. Elegant and
almost mystically complex, this is an ethereal
pleasure of Old Spain. (W&S 6/19) § Europvin
USA, Van Nuys, CA -J.G.

BEST RIOJAS
234085

95 | Marqués de Murrieta

$129

2009 Rioja Gran Reserva Especial Castillo
Ygay ^ The vines on the La Plana plateau, the
highest point of the estate, at 1,600 feet in

elevation, were 60 years old when faced with
the heat of the 2009 vintage. The majority
of this wine is tempranillo, harvested at the
end of September; 19 percent of the blend is
mazuelo (carignan), harvested a week later.
The wine has the richness of the vintage while
the fruit holds its freshness, with tart plum
and strawberry notes helping to shape all the
flavor concentration. It's a fat wine with attitude, packing dense tannins that last for minutes and need a decade or more to be fully
absorbed into the fruit. It's supple, heady and
delicious now, and significantly more complex with several days of air, as it will be with
years of age. (W&S 12/18) § Maisons Marques
& Domaines USA, Oakland, CA -J.G.
234039

95 | La Rioja Alta

$60

2009 Rioja Gran Reserva 904 ^ Now that
marijuana is legal, or, at least, decriminalized in most states, is it okay to say that a
wine has the resinous richness of a hit off a
joint? There it is, not skunky or harsh, just
saturated with smoky spice. And somewhat
addictive, with at least one taster noting she
could drink the whole bottle. This is the most
inviting kind of Rioja, melding its American
oak scents and delicate maturity of fruit into
elegance. It has the kind of robust delicacy
that would match seafood paella. (W&S
12/18) § Skurnik Wines & Spirits, NY -J.G.

BEST SHERRY

225946

94 | Hidalgo-
La Gitana

symposium
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Union Park Events East 17th St, NYC
visit wineandspiritsmagazine.com/top100 for more information

$120/500ml

Jerez-Xeres-Sherry Napoleon Amontillado VORS ^ This grows in the white albariza
soils of Hidalgo-La Gitana's estate vineyards
in Balbiana and Miraflores, then ages for
more than 30 years in American oak casks.
The wine sustains the kind of limestone pallor that ties its seashell flavors to the vineyard as well as to the coastal influence on the
bodega where the wine aged. It's completely
savory, with spicy notes of nutmeg and coriander, as well as dark tones that bring to
mind dried orange peel and toffee, all of it
checked by stony acidity. This is delicious to
sip on its own or with simply prepared shellfish, like seared scallops. (W&S 2/19) § Hidalgo
Imports, Miami, FL -J.G. n

https://www.lagitana.es/ https://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com/top100

Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019