Rioja Report 2025: Value & diversity

Lovely jammy strawberry fruit captivates, with soft, juicy tannins and a serious lift on the palate – not just from acidity, but from the noticeable impact of Viura. It is fleshy with peach syrup, but held taut with well-balanced oak and elegant acidity. Peach on the finish too, with blood orange. This is a serious and absolutely delicious wine.

Bold and intense, this is an elegantly managed wine with classy use of oak. Tannins are ripe and supportive, bringing a little grip and grunt. The fruit is seductively sweet and smooth, with a velvety mouthfeel and persistent finish. Fresh sotobosque (garrigue) marks the wine, which is complex and built to last.

Classical yet characterful with a refreshing blood orange streak underpinning the red apple, plum and red cherry core. The tannins are flinty yet softly juicy, with a savoury herbal touch. Vibrancy and finesse build a wine of great poise and drinkability. Citrus acidity and minerality bring the plum, red cherry and pink grapefruit into focus for the long, lively finish. The blend is 92% Garnacha with 8% a field blend of other varieties, grown on three sites in Alfaro, Rioja Oriental, at 550m in the foothills of Mount Yerga, facing east and southeast. Fermentation in stainless steel vats using native yeasts is completed in a mix of new and used French and American oak barrels, where the wine remains for 12 months. Organic.

Jammy but fresh, this is evolving gracefully with raspberry fruit and peach syrup, and chocolate and graphite notes from the oak. It is balanced but fleshy on the palate. I would enjoy this now, even though there are years of ageing ahead.

A really interesting, fluid wine, with mineral wet-stone freshness underpinning the black fruit. The tannins are drenched in Vichy Catalan (mineral water), clementine and orange peel. So fresh and lifted, with great poise and unapologetic modernity. Approachable, fresh and simply delicious, without undermining interest and complexity.

Precision and flavour definition are framed by assertive tanins and a zesty streak of blood orange and pink grapefruit. Prune, thyme, tarragon, cherries and cherry leaf are carried easily through the palate. Red apple crunch lifts the finish, before a tail of cherry leaves and orange pith.

This reserva offers a generous mouthfeel and concentration of fruit, alongside a certain sweetness from the oak. It is very fruity with typical red berries and a touch of spice, as well as plush, ripe tannins and a spicy finish. A polished, well-crafted wine.

A polished and well made wine with balanced oak that brings some attractive woody spice and fresh acidity. Appealing herbal aromas add complexity and there is great concentration of fruit on the palate with layers of black and red berry topped with some spice. This offers a lot at the price point and is a certain crowdpleaser. An equal-parts blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha sourced from two sites in, respectively, Abalos in Rioja Alta, and Tudelilla in Rioja Oriental, at high elevations between 650m and 700m. The two were fermented separately in concrete tanks, then aged separately too: the Tempranillo in medium-toast, 500L French oak barrels of first and second use, and the Garnacha in light-toast second use. After 15 months, the wines were blended and rested in concrete again for six months before bottling.

Authentic and honest, this is a very pure interpretation of the vineyards. It has some real grunt and grip but the blueberry and red berry fruit is intense; the palate weight can sustain it. It is driven by acidity and offers a touch of wild herbs from surrounding bosque (forest).

Intense savouriness and depth with spicy and smoky nuances lining the grippy tannins. This shows deft integration of wood. Flavours of prune, cranberry, blackcurrant and pear peel, with crunchy verve throughout. Moreish notes of manzanilla olives, curry leaf and saffron. Really vibrant energy and pull on the finish.

There's an intense, deep quality to the plum, black cherry and mulberry fruit. Well-presented tannins are at once soft and bold. With a juicy, refreshing undercurrent of pomegranate, redcurrant and red cherry, this has verve and energy throughout. There's an intense savoury lining to the finish.

This wine seems to be defined by a minty forest freshness with intense notes of garrigue and dried Mediterranean herbs. It is bold and a bit savoury on finish. This is an expressive and layered crianza that offers lots of personality, with a bit of grippy tannin on finish.

Creamy dark chocolate, prune, quince, blackberry and black cherry jam are all cloaked in thyme, sage and tobacco leaves. It's juicy yet assertive, with an inviting tannic framework – at once muscular and fresh – and bergamot zestiness. A beautiful finish, with a seam of cocoa powder and nutmeg.

Ripe, fleshy fruit (plum, pomegranate and black cherry) is woven with nutmeg, white pepper and melting dark chocolate. Alluring balsamic details line the fine, energetic tannins. There is a long tail of oregano, thyme and basil, with a coda of blood orange and pomegranate.

A very characterful crianza, with a subtle herbal lining (fennel, oregano, aniseed) cloaking the ripe dark fruit. With juscious juiciness on the mouth, the plum, pink grapefruit and black berry glide through the mid palate, held by the smoky pull of the tannins. There's a zesty, grippy, twist to the lively finish.

Seductive depth and focus on the nose, at once fresh and complex, with mineral freshness underpinning the richness of the ripe red fruit. It leverages the juiciness of the Garnacha fruit, with a citric drive of blood orange,pink grapefruit and red apple crunch. Focus and energy throughout, with a lingering sweet spiciness on the long finish.

Focus and spicy depth, with white pepper, oregano and thyme lining the plum, black cherry and blackberry fruit. Beautiful crunch is offset by earthy, broody depth. This has the potential to evolve and gain complexity in bottle.

Lusciously plummy with fresh tannins outlining the fruit, supported by a zesty edge and firm acid backbone. Really vibrant and driven. Defined flavours of red apple, pomegranate and cherry lifted by wet stone vapours. 100% Tempranillo grown at 650m in organically farmed vineyards near Labastida in Rioja Alavesa; the wine is made with minimal intervention, aged for eight months in neutral French oak barriques and bottled with no fining or filtration. A lovely, bright, drinkable, approachable wine; the first glass invites a second.

Tempranillo with 15% Merlot, grown at 480m just north of Haro, in the shelter of the Sierra Cantabria foothills. Vinified in stainless steel tanks, the wine was transferred into second- and third-use French oak barriques for malolactic fermentation and maturation over 10 months, then it was clarified and a very lightly filtered before bottling. An elevated herbal character (wild oregano, thyme, tarragon, crushed mint) jumps from the glass. Chiselled, well presented tannins with a touch of graphite and a luscious, savoury quality that stitches rich fruit and macerated herbs in the mouth. Plum and blood orange linger. Beautiful freshness and classical poise.

Intense red berry fruit, strawberry jam and a little spice make for an unadulterated and highly pleasurable red without much make-up or barrel. It is pure Tempranillo fruit, sourced from 20- to 30-year-old vines in Briones, made entirely in stainless steel and clarified by racking from tank to tank, and given only a light filtration before bottling. Deliciously sweet and seductive.

An earthy, broody layer of wild mushrooms and forest floor underpins the fleshy black and blue fruit. Juicy blood orange coating the firm yet fresh tannis. There's good weight on the mid palate, supported by zesty verve. The thin veil of white pepper, cardamom, nutmeg and curry leaf is followed by lingering notes of coffee and moca.

Prune, plum, cherry, lavender, rosemary and oregano in a refreshing, fragrant wine, deep yet unpretentious. Vibrant veil of powdery liquorice and graphite. Elegant, poised and so immediately appealing. Long finish with a tail of nutmeg, pink pepper and cocoa powder. 100% Tempranillo fruit from vines averaging 25 years of age in the highly regarded 160ha Montebuena vineyard in the southeast of Labastida, Rioja Alavesa, on shallow, calcareous soils. Fermented in stainless steel tanks then aged in mildly toasted American and French oak barrels (new, second and third use) for 10 months before clarification and bottling without filtration.

This 100% Tempranillo wine is sourced from a single plot of 40-year-old vines in Ollauri, Rioja Alta. Recent vintages have been made in a more fruit-forward style, partly made using whole-berry, semi-carbonic fermentation in concrete vats and using no new oak, completed by 14 months' resting in used French oak barrels. Lovely, deep savouriness. Crushed olive leaves, macerated rosemary and thyme cloak the red plum, blood orange, pink grapefruit, pomegranate and red cherry fruit. Beautiful earthy rusticity – black olive tapenade, petrichor – underneath it all.

A rich and satisfying crianza with obvious but well handled oak that brings a certain sweetness and structure. Fresh balsamic notes on the palate combine with intense red berry fruit and black pepper spice. Complex yet approachable. Tempranillo with 5% Garnacha sourced from the producer's sizeable 500ha estates in Rioja Alavesa, the fruit destemmed and vinified in stainless steel. Ageing takes place in light-toast, second- and third-use American (80%) and French (20%) oak barrels, the wine racked after six months, removed from the barrels after 12 and then clarified, before being bottled with no filtration.

Tempranillo with 10% Viura, sourced from two family-owned vineyards in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, northern Rioja Alta, vines more than 40 years old. The best fruit is selected in the vineyard, then undergoes carbonic maceration lasting nine days, followed by a spontaneous process of malolactic fermentation. Lovely vibrancy of red and black fruit. The leading aromas of plum, blackberry, blueberry jam and violet petals are echoed on the palate. Focused, fresh tannins bring structure – an enjoyable and dangerously drinkable wine with delicious juicy drive.

A young wine that offers a wonderful freshness, this has a bright floral nose with rose petal and talc that leads to a chalky, fresh palate. Vibrant, it is in the best traditions of young fruity Tempranillo from the region, being made using whole grapes and carbonic maceration, and fermented in stainless steel tanks. The fruit is sourced from parcels in two of the three zones around the town of Abalos, in northern Rioja Alta, the vines aged between 40 and 100 years old on poor, clay-limestone soils.

Fragrant, savoury lift with notes of Parma violets, rose petals, black olives and oregano. A refreshing layer of citrus and red fruit (blood orange, pomegranate, red apple, cranberry) underscores the riper blue and black fruit. Good grip on the mid- and side-palate. Great energy and definition. Seductive, lingering florality. Fruit sourced from vines on different soil types in each of the three Rioja sub-regions, 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha destemmed and lightly pressed before fermentation, with ageing for 14 months in medium-toast American and French oak barrels, racked every four months to achieve a natural filtering.

Punching above its weight, this delivers a wide, rich array of aroma and flavour: thyme, sage, crushed mint, green olive tapenade, blood orange, red plum, roasted tomatoes, juicy red apple and red plum mingle harmoniously. Beautiful vibrancy and zesty grip. Lovely tail of dark chocolate and coffee. From two vineyards at up to 680m in Tudelilla in Rioja Oriental, facing east and one with deep, stony soils. 100% Garnacha from 70- to 90-year-old vines, the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations are completed in 400L oak barrels, then the wine is returned to concrete vats to stabilise before bottling.

Structured and fruity, this is a well-made wine with varietal character. Some perfumed, floral notes give way to a plummy palate with firm but ripe tannins. Direct acidity drives the wine and there's enough tannin on the finish to keep it lively. A blend of Tempranillo with a portion of Graciano sourced from vines more than 70 years old in Villabuena de Alava. The fruit was destemmed before fermentation, and the wine aged for 12 months in American and French oak barrels.

With some serious graphite and chocolate notes, this offers quite a lot of wine at the price point. Blueberry and red berry fruit with soft tannins and some spice lead to a soft palate with a juicy finish. From organic vines at the northwest end of Rioja Alta, at 540m-600m on the slopes leading up to the Obarenes mountains, west of Haro, on silt loam and limestone soils. 85%Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Garnacha, fermented in stainless steel and concrete tanks with malolactic fermentation in 500L barrels and concrete, followed by ageing for 18 months in neutral, 500L-600L French oak barrels, concrete and flexitank.