These bottles recommended by the experts who sign The La Vanguardia Wine Guide 2024, of which Lluís Tolosa is director, reflect the latest trends in wine tourism, sustainability and packaging. Also the concern to recover ancestral varieties and innovation in packaging or the growing interest in regenerative agriculture:
Wine professionals, both sommeliers and the rest of the restaurant sector, love Sherry. However, this fortified, dry and penetrating wine has a hard time conquering tables outside the gastronomic field or outside its native Andalusia.
This is probably because it is not easy to drink and requires certain knowledge and culture to fully appreciate it. For this reason, its consumption is usually restricted to an appetizer or a specific pairing, and we keep asking ourselves, how to make it colonize the table and not be relegated to these brief moments?
The answer could be in grass-fed wines. It is a new category that is entering the menus of the best restaurants and is revolutionizing the panorama of consumption of these wines. They are mostly made in Jerez and with the traditional Palomino Fino variety, but they are not fortified. Therefore, its alcohol content is moderate, around 11.5º.
There is a group of producers leading this reconversion. They are Territorio Albariza and their grass-fed wines look more at the vineyard than at the winery. Ramiro Ibáñez, from Cota 45, is one of them, with great culture in Jerez wine issues.
Ube, extremely fertile, comes from the Miraflores vineyard, the most iconic in Sanlúcar de Barrameda and the one that produces the finest and most delicate wines. After fermentation, it goes through a rapid biological aging under a flower veil where it is enriched with limestone, bakery and smoky aromas. It is a wine with a very fine structure, gastronomic and deep. There are 15,000 bottles that outline a bright future for the wines of Marco de Jerez.
Author: Ferran Centelles
In the world of wine, new styles and new trends constantly emerge that capture the attention of lovers of this drink. These trend-setting wines often break with traditional conventions and offer unique and exciting experiences.
Did you know that Monopole is the oldest white wine brand in Spain? It has been made since 1915, truly incredible. This Classic Monopole is the story of a remake after 40 years, made as it was in the seventies, with today's quality and the enthusiasm for future generations to drink historical, but current wines.
Monopole Clásico is a dry white wine, made mainly with the Viura variety and small quantities of other native white varieties. It comes from its own vineyard in Villalba de Rioja, with limestone soils, typical of the area, located at about 600 meters of altitude. It is characterized by its freshness, balance and elegance, with notes of white fruits, citrus and fine herbaceous nuances. Its big difference is the memories of Sherry wines, after aging in used casks of 300, 400 and 500 liters of capacity.
It is an ideal wine to pair with fish, shellfish, rice and poultry, as well as to enjoy alone as an aperitif. It should not be served very cold, as it loses its fragrant aroma and may seem bitter. In addition to its excellent quality, the Monopole Clásico also stands out for its excellent quality-price ratio, which makes it a very attractive option for white wine lovers.
Author: Zoltan Nagy
Cosme Palacio (1894) is the demonstration of how the centuries-old wineries of Rioja continue to be rabidly modern and innovative. In 1991, they were the first winery to open a space dedicated to wine tourism in Rioja Alavesa, now they are reopening La Casa Cosme Palacio after an impressive rehabilitation and with a new, totally unique and original concept.
This is the first “Invitation Only” accommodation in Spain. You have to explain it well. Any family, group or company can request the stay, each case is studied and everything is personalized, tailor-made, from the food and wine proposal to the wine tourism activities. Only later does the invitation arrive, with the “guest” treatment, which includes impeccable and discreet five-star service, with a private chef and white-glove butler.
Casa Cosme Palacio sets the trend in wine tourism and places Rioja in the highest segment of Premium Wine Tourism. The jury of the Best Of Bilbao-Rioja awards did not hesitate for a second: Best Of award for Best Wine Tourism Accommodation 2024 and Best Of International award to represent Spain in the Great Wine Capitals (GWC) world final.
During our stay we loved the Cosme Palacio 1894. A tribute to the great whites aged in barrels in Rioja. Traditional blend of viura and malvasia from 1920 vines, aged 12 months in 500 liter French oak barrels. Perfectionist, elegant and complex. Pear, honey, spices, exotic, floral and mineral notes, with a fine woodwork finish. One more detail from Ignacio Oñate, your impeccable “guest manager”
Author: Lluís Tolosa
I love this wine. It seems extremely modern to me. I think it shows many of the current trends and the character of the new wines of the 21st century. It is expressed from the local identity, its area, its farms and its varieties, and shows the values and concerns of Frank Margenat, self-demanding and entrepreneurial, capable of placing an unknown winery among the most important in Catalonia in a few years.
Càndia is presented as an experimental wine, but it is one of the most complete, seductive, rounded and balanced wines I have tried this year. Grenache, samsó, sumoll and syrah (paradoxically without DO, to use samsó), from four plots of his estate of 600 hectares of vineyards, forests and olive groves in front of the imposing silhouette of the Montserrat mountain.
Organic production in its third year of regenerative viticulture. Manual harvest and bunch selection. Also delicate and meticulous preparation. Spontaneous fermentation of the sumoll, short macerations to avoid forcing the extraction and malolactic fermentation in barrels and cement eggs. Short aging, 5 months in French oak barrels, prioritizing fruit expression, with long aging in the bottle.
As Laia Puig, deputy director, says, “it turned out the way we wanted. Little layer of color, but intense mouthfeel.” Indeed, it is soft, light, subtle, but very expressive. Red berries with floral notes, then spicy and finally balsamic. “Surprisingly, it has been very successful. Everyone likes him, he is very friendly, he has little wood and he has a very sweet tooth. “Interesting to see its evolution in the bottle over the next 10 years.”
Author: Lluís Tolosa
New from Familia Torres, expressive of the pre-phylloxera forcada variety. A new ecological target in its process of recovering ancestral varieties to face climate change.
Miguel A. Torres began the project to recover pre-phylloxera varieties in the early eighties, initially with philanthropic motivations, to contribute to recovering the pre-phylloxera viticultural heritage in Catalonia. In recent years, the fifth generation, Miguel and Mireia Torres, have continued with the project, identifying the varieties with the greatest oenological potential and those that best adapt to climate change.
Forcada, authorized in the DO Penedès in 2018, is so far the only ancestral white variety, of the more than fifty that have been recovered, capable of producing great wines and facing climate change.
Clos Ancestral basically comes from the Mas Palau estate, unique in altitude (500 m), far from maritime influence, with reddish clay-calcareous soils. Also unique for its harvest in October, the last white wine harvested in the Penedès.
Miguel A. Torres has promoted very important projects, long before others, and what is most difficult, he has maintained them for decades and transmitted them to the following generations. Considered one of the 100 global climate leaders by Time magazine, he is the only leader in the ranking who belongs to the wine production sector. It is an honor to present you with our Lifetime Achievement Award.
Author: Alicia Estrada
Beronia (1973) celebrates its 50 years with a commemorative edition of its Reserva, a tribute to the founders of the winery, a group of friends who met in a txoko to share the passion for wine and gastronomy.
The name of the winery dates back to the origins of these lands, which in the 3rd century BC. They were inhabited by the Berones, the warrior people of Celtic origin who marked the limits of Beronia, what is today La Rioja.
In 1982 they found in González Byass the ideal partner to develop their range of wines and take the great international leap, today with a presence in 80 countries. They currently have 25 hectares of their own vineyards around the winery and 870 hectares controlled with agreements with more than 200 winegrowers in the area.
In 2022, its new winery was the first to obtain LEED Gold and LEED V4 BD C:NC certifications, making it the most sustainable in the world. The members of the jury of the Best Of Bilbao-Rioja awards gave it the Best Of in Sustainability 2023. And its architecture has earned three important international awards: World Design Award in the Industrial Architecture category, Agricultural Building award in the Architecture Masterprize and finalist in the Word Architecture Festival.
The Beronia 50th Anniversary shows its characteristic style of wines. Tempranillo and Graciano from the vineyards around the winery. Aged for 18 months in 80 French oak barrels and mixed barrels with American oak staves and French oak lids, with 18 months of rest in the bottle. Red fruits, spices, licorice, chocolate and soft menthols.
Author: Lluís Tolosa
Valduero is a winery whose philosophy understands that the process begins in the vineyard and ends in the enjoyment of each person who takes a sip of its wines. Proof of this is that they never go on the market before they are already designed to give pleasure.
Ribera del Duero, famous for its red wines, and I would dare to mention its clarets, has been launching its designation of origin for white wines since 2019. Valduero was a pioneer and visionary winery on the subject of the Albillo riverside grape and in a triumphant way. It was the first winery to bottle it, and even better, it kept it in the vineyard when it was plucked in these parts. His long experience with the Albillo variety has helped him evolve and today successfully experiment with long aging in barrels.
The grape selection will take place at night on the 12 hectares of the La Yunquera and Buenos Santos farms, where the soil is pebble and sand. The altitude is also a gift in these vineyards, at more than 800 meters, which is a generality in the Ribera del Duero. The climate is continental with Mediterranean influence and this day-night temperature difference will benefit the grapes aromatically. The wine is aged with lees, providing volume in the mouth and making it a very gastronomic wine.
Straw yellow and bright. On the nose we find a lot of fresh fruit such as grapefruit, lemon peel, pineapple and apple. It is very herbal, somewhat balsamic and also offers notes of honey and toast. The palate is enveloping, fresh and has an elegant and long finish.
Author: María José Huertas
The most classic, conservative and purists say that the can discredits the wine, some even become apocalyptic, and it is true that some canned wine projects without any quality have come to market, many times even from outside the wine sector.
My experience, sitting in the sun on the terrace of La Carmeta, was absolutely fantastic. Ruben Pedregosa offered me a can of his Cenisia Rosé and I wasn't able to find any drawbacks, rather I loved it.
It seems I'm not the only one, because in less than two years they have sold 2 million cans of wine. They make two white wines, Lineo and Alyssum, this Cenisia Rosé and the red Dulban. Without a doubt, the best achieved is the Cenisia Rosé, it is a very comfortable single dose for one person, that is why you can choose one of these four cans with its €25 Executive Menu in La Carmeta.
But this is not just about cans. Everything took place in September 2020, still in a pandemic. But the canning machine they ordered did not arrive until June 2021. Technically very tight, because the can requires a special inner sheet and because a 10-gram can falls at the slightest touch, an enormous risk if you work at 3,000 cans/hour. To understand us, the machine is worth €500,000.
It is clear that they wanted to do it well, so the bureaucratic challenge was added to the technical and economic challenge. The DO Penedès did not see it clearly. The one who opted for them was the DO Catalunya. And yes, it is canned wine, but good, with an identified variety, its vintage and its designation of origin. Everything impeccable. That's why our 2024 Wine Innovation Award.
Author: Lluís Tolosa
