This delicious red is easy to drink and offers top-notch winemaking at a hard-to-beat price! The "Finca La Montesa" bottling has been around for years, but it's been revamped as an even higher-quality, smaller production bottling for the Palacios Remondo winery. We're sold on the change, which brings more elegance, clarity, and tension to its ripe, rounded character.
Palacios Remondo is the family estate of Alvaro Palacios, one of Spain's most famous and prolific winemakers, who helped bring the old regions of Priorat and Bierzo to wider recognition. He's determined to do the same for his family's home estate in the often-overlooked eastern part of Rioja (the oriental). Here amongst the gently rolling foothills of Mt. Yerga, the climate and landscape have a distinctly warmer, drier Mediterranean character, but with the benefit of cool nights from the higher elevation. It's an ideal spot for delicious Garnacha-driven wines, whose naturally rich ripeness is imbued with more elegance in form and flow!
The 2020 "Finca La Montesa" Rioja stands in contrast to the famous oaky Tempranillo-driven Riojas to the west, starting with its saturating, vibrant ruby hue. You immediately pick up a high-toned note like red currant, then a broader, riper red cherry liqueur, mingling with fragrant violet, orange peel and woodsy Mediterranean herbs... a vinous perfume that beckons a first sip! Bright on entry, the evolution on the palate broadens elegantly, with a stunning satin texture and generous medium-full body. The flavors broaden as well, into the same delicious, concentrated notes from the nose: ripe red cherry, red currant, herbs, orange peel meshed with subtle, but rich, flavors from the year in seasoned French oak such as walnut and mocha. The soft tannins lightly frame the form of wine throughout its evolution on the palate, while the mellow vibrancy gives it a sense of easy flow, finishing with a warming, sun-kissed character. This is the magical character of the Rioja Oriental! Organically Farmed.
WINE ADVOCATE 93 POINTS - "They are going for lower yields and less bottles of the 2020 La Montesa and slowly putting prices up, as they feel the wine is more serious than what the perception of the affordable price makes it. 2020 is a powerful vintage; it's structured and textured, the oak is very nicely integrated (12 months in barrel, but the powerful wine absorbed it completely), and it's powerful with 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.55, a little darker than in previous years. The tannins are very fine with a subtle chalky texture."
JAMES SUCKLING 94 POINTS - "Medium ruby hue, with a bright and racy nose that’s full of pretty berries, redcurrants, fresh strawberries and potpourri. Medium-bodied and naturally juicy on the palate, showing lots of crunch and drinkability. Fresh, transparent and silky."
Palacios Remondo is the family estate of Alvaro Palacios, one of Spain's most famous and prolific winemakers, who helped bring the old regions of Priorat and Bierzo to wider recognition. He's determined to do the same for his family's home estate in the often-overlooked eastern part of Rioja (the oriental). Here amongst the gently rolling foothills of Mt. Yerga, the climate and landscape have a distinctly warmer, drier Mediterranean character, but with the benefit of cool nights from the higher elevation. It's an ideal spot for delicious Garnacha-driven wines, whose naturally rich ripeness is imbued with more elegance in form and flow!
The 2020 "Finca La Montesa" Rioja stands in contrast to the famous oaky Tempranillo-driven Riojas to the west, starting with its saturating, vibrant ruby hue. You immediately pick up a high-toned note like red currant, then a broader, riper red cherry liqueur, mingling with fragrant violet, orange peel and woodsy Mediterranean herbs... a vinous perfume that beckons a first sip! Bright on entry, the evolution on the palate broadens elegantly, with a stunning satin texture and generous medium-full body. The flavors broaden as well, into the same delicious, concentrated notes from the nose: ripe red cherry, red currant, herbs, orange peel meshed with subtle, but rich, flavors from the year in seasoned French oak such as walnut and mocha. The soft tannins lightly frame the form of wine throughout its evolution on the palate, while the mellow vibrancy gives it a sense of easy flow, finishing with a warming, sun-kissed character. This is the magical character of the Rioja Oriental! Organically Farmed.
WINE ADVOCATE 93 POINTS - "They are going for lower yields and less bottles of the 2020 La Montesa and slowly putting prices up, as they feel the wine is more serious than what the perception of the affordable price makes it. 2020 is a powerful vintage; it's structured and textured, the oak is very nicely integrated (12 months in barrel, but the powerful wine absorbed it completely), and it's powerful with 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.55, a little darker than in previous years. The tannins are very fine with a subtle chalky texture."
JAMES SUCKLING 94 POINTS - "Medium ruby hue, with a bright and racy nose that’s full of pretty berries, redcurrants, fresh strawberries and potpourri. Medium-bodied and naturally juicy on the palate, showing lots of crunch and drinkability. Fresh, transparent and silky."
