Spain: Palacios Remondo - Finca La Montesa Crianza 2022, Rioja (Organic & Biodynamic, Vegan-Friendly)

Grape varieties: 95% Garnacha (Grenache), 5% Tempranillo & Mazuelo.

The vines are farmed organically and biodynamically. This involves a great deal of painstaking work - but means zero use of synthetic chemicals and the highest possible respect for the soil, the environment, and you the drinker.

I believe this is ONE OF the world's greatest value wines (along with Alvaro's La Vendimia!), especially since it is not only organic but also biodynamic. But we all have different palates of course: mine looks for freshness, elegance, fragrance - a natural rather than an overly-oaky fruit character - over sheer weight and power. Alvaro's wines have the former in spades....

Who is Alvaro?!

The man in charge of the winemaking, one Alvaro Palacios, is a living legend and several of his wines (from Priorat, Bierzo, and Rioja) cost hundreds per bottle while a few often surpass 1,000 euros a bottle.

After studying oenology, Alvaro worked for two years at Bordeaux's legendary Château Pétrus before setting out to make what are now several of Spain's finest wines, in Priorat (Finca Dofi and L'Ermita) and with his nephew in Bierzo.

Now 61 years old, he is widely regarded as arguably Spain's greatest winemaker (he has been Decanter Magazine’s Man of the Year), everything he has involved himself with is of the utmost quality, not just in terms of wine quality but also in terms of his approach to his people, the vineyards, and the environment.

As evidence of this: the historical Palacios Remondo is not his personal estate (unlike his ventures in Priorat and Bierzo) - it belongs to his family - but when taking it over in 2000, the estate quickly moved to organic and biodynamic methods, yields were greatly reduced, and quality soared.

Oak is used here, of course, but it's beautifully integrated, more for seasoning than overt flavour.

Not only does he know how to make the finest wine in tiny quantities, he also knows how to deliver a superb wine like this in somewhat larger amounts (circa 650,000 bottles)!

Although medium-to-full-bodied, his Riojas have remarkable fragrance, and they are said to have a lightness and freshness to them that is often Pinot-esque (as in Pinot Noir). This means they are best served cool (i.e. at cellar temperature) rather than at room temperature.

This wine comes from Rioja Oriental, the region's easternmost point. Garnacha is King here, and benefits from being grown on calcareous-clay at 550m, on the foothills of Mount Yerga.

Grapes are harvested by hand, while they discard any excessively ripe fruit which would make the wine too powerful/too high in alcohol. The grape must ferments with local yeast in stainless steel tanks before then being transferred to mainly French oak barrels for 12 months of ageing.

Food pairing

GREAT with grilled and roasted meats, barbecues and burgers, Spanish classics, tapas (e.g. Iberian cured meats), mature hard cheeses.

What the experts say - these are incredibly high scores for a wine at £24:

16.5/20 (92 points) - meaning "a high-quality, well-made wine" - "really lively, vibrant wine that expresses where it comes from. Long. Good Value" - Jancis Robinson, Master of Wine.

94 points: Wine Advocate: "now bottled, the 2022 La Montesa is a wine I sampled unbottled last year, and it delivers all that the earlier tasting promised: superb quality at an unbeatable price. It displays a bright ruby color and an explosive Garnacha nose, with tons of red berry fruit, flowers and spring herbs and a touch of blood orange. It's Mediterranean with freshness, fleshy and juicy, with purity, clean, balanced, fine-boned and very approachable, with almost unnoticeable and elegant tannins. It has ripeness combined with elegance and high drinkability. 668,600 bottles produced, so it should be readily available, and it's a bargain! It was bottled in January 2024. Drink 2025-2036" - Luis Gutiérrez. 

94 points: Peñín.

94 points: James Suckling.

96 points: Decanter. 

91-93 points: Vinous: "a blend of 95% Garnacha and 5% other red varieties sourced from the Monte Yerga vineyards in Rioja Oriental, the 2022 La Montesa aged for 12 months in French oak barrels. This purple-hued wine presents notes of pink peppercorn, grapefruit and elder on the nose. Dry and chalky with a vibrant, refreshing core on the palate, it lingers with a note reminiscent of Worcestershire sauce" - Joaquin Hidalgo.