2017 Palacios Remondo "La Montesa" Rioja Crianza

92 Points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: "The 2017 La Montesa is mostly Garnacha with some 8% other red varieties and comes from a warm and dry year that saw a very early harvest, up to 20 days earlier than usual. It fermented in stainless steel and matured in barrique for 12 months. It feels very Mediterranean, with notes of Mediterranean herbs and ripe berries. It's juicy and lush, round and very pleasant, easy to drink. 670,000 bottles produced and will be labeled organic, very remarkable for such volume. It was bottled in May 2019. The changes initiated when Álvaro Palacios returned to the family winery in Rioja have been important. The latest milestone has been the organic certification for their wine La Montesa in the 2017 vintage, a remarkable achievement because this is a 670,000 bottle cuvée!" (6/28/19)

91 Points Vinous: "Limpid ruby. Expressive red and blue fruit, spicecake and floral scents pick up a hint of succulent herbs with air. Juicy, expansive boysenberry, cherry cola and candied rose flavors deepen through the midpalate. Shows very good depth and energy and closes sweet, spicy and long, with discreet tannins adding gentle grip. Alvaro Palacios’ family has been in Rioja since 1945, while he has achieved world-wide fame at his estate in Priorat. Palacios is still deeply involved in this 110-hectare property producing wines of distinct elegance and forward personalities, with a modern leaning. Both American and French oak are used and while the wines are polished, I never sense an extroverted expression of wood. Broadly speaking these are eminently approachable wines, based heavily, and sometimes exclusively, on all estate-grown Garnacha. There is also a bit of Viura planted and whatever Tempranillo is used comes from grapes purchased from a handful of growers near Haro. The La Montesa bottling delivers especially keen value for its quality and is made in large quantity, and thus is widely available." (04/2021)

91 Points from Wine & Spirits Magazine:  "Alvaro Palacios makes this wine at his family’s estate in Rioja Oriental—the eastern zone formerly known as Baja. He farms this garnacha at an elevation of 1,800 feet, producing it without additions other than some sulfur (and some egg whites for clarifying the wine). Spend some time with the wine and you may begin to sense its very Spanish soul, something you can feel in the bright red fruit, something you can breathe in the savor of the grape-skin tannins. It’s a light, simple, tangy red that will only improve over the course of four days, recorked, on a cool pantry shelf." (12/20)