Top 100 Wines of Spain 2020

The region of Rioja remains Spain’s most important winemaking area.

Most of you know that Spain makes incredible value wines, but I am not talking about super cheap bottles in supermarkets. The strength of Spanish wines are those that sell for between $15 and $40 a bottle and show deft sophistication, unique character and wonderful drinkability. This is why the focus for this year’s list of the Top 100 Wines of Spain is clearly on value, particularly in the Top 10 wines.

If you follow Spanish wines even slightly, you probably already know the top names who make superb and rare wines such as Vega Sicilia, Alvaro Palacios, Telmo Rodriguez, Pingus, and Artadi. These names are the blue chip names of the country that make super quality wines and are highly sought after around the world. They are in the cellars of the global elite and drunk in some of the best restaurants. Some cost as much as $1,000 a bottle or more.

But many other wines from Spain offer terrific drinking pleasure and at reasonable prices, and this is what I focused on in this year’s list of the Top 100. It’s why our No. 1 Spanish wine is the Comando G Vinos de Madrid La Bruja de Rozas 2018. This is an old vine red from vineyards in hills about an hour’s drive outside of Madrid that’s very in fashion with people who know Spanish wines.

I admittedly have not personally visited their vineyards but I spent time tasting last year with Fernando García, one of the owners and winemakers of the project. He explained his devotion and belief in the region as well as the old vines so dear to the history and tradition of Spanish winemaking such as garnacha. He said that he wanted to make wines that showed the true character of the grape and emphasized drinkability and personality.

“In the beginning, people were saying we made a rosé and that I had to leave,” he said during our meeting last year in Spain while he was thinking back to Comando G’s beginnings in 2008. Garcia had worked in a respected wine shop in Madrid before finally starting to make wine. “I learned about drinking wine in La Vina (the best wine store of Madrid.)”

He also spent years traveling in France and northern Italy tasting great wines from areas like Piedmont and Burgundy. He mentioned how he prized bottles of Barolo and the style of the wines. “I don’t like the jammy approach to garnacha,” he said. “ I like the crunchy texture in wines”.

I couldn’t agree more. I am in love with the finesse, complexity and nature of his garnacha-based reds at Comando G, particularly bottles like the 2018 La Bruja de Rozas that can cost less than $25 a bottle. It’s hard to think of wine at such a price that epitomizes the uniqueness and character of a country. In the Western world, Spain arguably has the most inspiring gastronomy scene with incredible foods and restaurants from traditional ones to the most avant-garde. And it’s wines like the Rozas that are fascinating bottles that always retain their drinkability with food. It’s also why the short trend of black-colored, overly extracted and strong wines has faded for the most part in Spain.

This year I rated more than 1,100 Spanish wines and I continue to be in awe of how many excellent wines can be found for reasonable prices. As I wrote a few months back, I rated 967 bottles 90 points or more, which highlights the breadth of quality wines being made in Spain at the moment. The median score of the tasting was about 92 points underlying a solid quality for wines in this year’s tasting.

James tastes in Spain in 2019 with Fernando Garcia, owner and winemaker at Comando G winery, which made our No. 1 Spanish wine in 2020.

The Top 10 of the Top 100 of Spain are all priced $40 a bottle or less with most $25 or less. A couple were around $15. And they are all available in the market, according to our research from Winesearcher.com. I could have put some higher scoring wines in the Top 10 position but I wanted to really highlight value this year.

Our three most expensive wines in the Top 10 were only about $40 and two represent the greatness of traditional Riojas where tasting the long barrel-aged reds is like experiencing history with their soft, succulent fruit and wooden aromas and flavors. They are ready for enjoyment on release and mesmerizing in their honesty and tradition. They are the No. 3 López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Bosconia 2009 and the No. 4 La Rioja Alta Rioja Viña Arana Gran Reserva 2014.

The other $40 bottle is the unique Envínate Ribeira Sacra Lousas Viñas de Aldea Vinos Atlánticos 2018 from the slate slopes of the region of Ribeira Sacra. It’s a unique wine with a fresh, vivid and energetic palate with crushed-raspberry, orange peel and white pepper character. It beckons you to drink it with each sip.

The No. 5 wine, the Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2017, was similar to the other two Riojas but with a more focused and fresh sensation than its counterparts. It illustrates when Marques de Murrieta owner Vicente Dalmau Cebrián-Sagarriga says that producers should hold on to their tradition in his region but not be afraid to modernize their wines. It’s super quality for around $20 a bottle.

James standing in the cellars of Bodegas Roda in Rioja in 2018.

The Bodegas Palacio Rioja Cosme Palacio Vendimia Seleccionada 2018 at No. 9 shares the same price level and modernized tradition ethos as the Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2017. But it’s a little more fruit driven and it usually sells for less than $20 a bottle

Even more reasonable in price is the Numanthia Tinta de Toro Toro Termes 2017 at No. 6. It’s hard to believe that the LVMH estate can make such fantastic reds at around $14 a bottle. I went to the winery myself and the vineyards about four years ago and it’s in a remote area that reminds me of a high desert in the summer. The vines grow so low to the ground they look like they are crawling like spiders. It’s so hot in the mid-summer among the vines that it’s hard to breathe. Yet the Termes delivers richness and freshness at the same time. It’s a vast improvement in quality from a decade ago when they were too concentrated and jammy. This is the way Toro reds should be and more.

I had to include the CUNE Rioja Monopole Clasíco 2018 in the Top 10. The white can sell for around $15 a bottle and is so classic in style. I first drank this in the 1983 in Spain and it’s always been a favorite well-priced white. Perhaps I’m just being nostalgic but the wine is unique and the lightly oxidized and nutty character is so enticing. The character comes from CUNE using Manzanilla sherry to top up the wine’s barrels. It is Spanish in personality through and through.

The No. 8 Dominio de Pingus Ribera del Duero PSI 2018 is also “muy Espanol” because of its reliance on old vine garnacha from the region of Ribera del Duero. This is one of my personal go-to reds from Spain when I am traveling the world. Not only is it so characterful in flavor, it’s a great price at slightly less than $30 a bottle. It’s also made by the owner and winemaker of one of Spain’s most prestigious wines Dominio de Pingus Ribera del Duero Flor de Pingus 2018 – Peter Sisseck. He says it’s a wine designed to save the heritage and reality of the old vines of the Duero but it’s much more than that.

I couldn’t help but end the Top 10 with another Comando G wine, the Comando G Vinos de Madrid 1er Rozas 2018. It comes from the same vineyards as La Bruja de Rozas but it is a selection of a handful of the very best sections. It has just a bit more tension, focus and intensity than our No. 1 this year. And it’s only slightly a few dollars more per bottle.

There are so many great wines and great values this year from Spain. So I hope you find our list of Top 100 helpful when you’re looking for some wonderful Spanish wines to drink. As I wrote before, we weighted price slightly more than scores in this list. We also looked for wines that are available in the market or that will be very soon. And, of course, the wow factor came into play, with wines where we thought “I need to buy this!” Enjoy.

– James Suckling, editor & CEO