Rioja Embraces the Single Vineyard, Plus ’24 Roars to Life in the Santa Lucia Highlands: Weekly Tasting Report

Our latest Weekly Tasting Report of 423 wines focuses heavily on the Rioja wine region of Spain, where Senior Editor Jacobo García Andrade has been spending the summer, with his first tasting notes offering his early impressions on some of the region’s most compelling single-vineyard expressions – a category that has increasingly become one of Rioja's strengths.

The region's landscape is diverse and intricate, with varying orientations, soil types, altitudes and proportions of varieties within individual vineyards. Rioja does not fit neatly into the hierarchical model of Burgundy, according to Jacobo. The number of variables creates a patchwork that is far more complex than such a framework. Topography, soils, exposures and grape varieties all interact in ways that make some classifications difficult.

Yet, in essence, the idea remains the same: some sites are better than others. Growers have long understood this. Traditionally, a local grower would keep the wines from the vineyard he liked most for his own consumption. Some of those vineyards later disappeared into cooperative blends and larger production wines, but many are now being rediscovered.

At the same time, blends remain equally important. As JamesSuckling.com Senior Editor Zekun Shuai says, “every time a single vineyard is bottled, a blend loses one of its great components.” Single vineyards are not new to Rioja. What is changing is the attention they are now receiving and the willingness of producers to bottle them separately.

Among the highlights this week are the Bodegas Artuke Rioja La Condenada 2024 (98 points) and Bodegas Artuke Rioja El Escolladero 2024 (99), the two single-vineyard wines of Arturo de Miguel in Baños de Ebro. El Escolladero comes from a vineyard planted with approximately 83 percent tempranillo and 17 percent graciano on the border between the villages of Ábalos and Samaniego. It is an impeccably maintained vineyard, traditionally head-pruned in a candelabra form with four arms.

As de Miguel notes, "the best vineyard is the one that has been well cared for by the same person for 40 years," which is precisely the case here. Graciano is a perfect complement to tempranillo. Its naturally low pH, dark olive and dark fruit profile help lift the wine while contributing to a darker, more mysterious character that is particularly appealing in this vineyard.

La Condenada is equally special, though more fluid and ethereal in profile. Planted in 1920, it contains a significant proportion of graciano alongside garnacha and palomino. It is more floral, subtle and aromatic, with an elegance that distinguishes it from El Escolladero.

Another standout is La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904 2016 (97), which is sourced from vineyards in Rodezno, Villalba and Briñas. Made from 90 percent tempranillo and 10 percent graciano, the fruit in some vintages may be destined either for Gran Reserva 904 or Gran Reserva 890, depending on the character of the year. Aged in three-year-old American oak barrels, it remains a classic expression of Rioja, elegant, with the savory quality, dried flowers and preserved cherry aromas that define the style.

The Cuentaviñas Rioja Los Yelsones 2023 (97), one of the top wines in this report, is sourced from a single parcel in the lieu-dit of La Rad in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, the vineyard sits above a compact layer of calcium carbonate in the subsoil. The resulting wine has a precise, chalky texture with a sense of delineated dark fruit. The owner of Cuentaviñas, Eduard Eguren, has an exceptional understanding of the region's geology, having commissioned an extensive study of the area's soils in order to better understand their behaviour and expression.

For a great personal interpretation of Rioja by a winemaker, try the Oxer Bastegieta RIoja Kalamity 2024 (97). This wine blends tempranillo from Elvillar with garnacha from Badaran and Camprovín – two villages that are producing some of the region's most exciting examples of the variety.

It is a compelling concept: why focus on a single vineyard when you can blend fruit from two exceptional sites? The result is a wine that is powerful and expressive, yet equally detailed and nuanced.

The Alegre Valgañón Rioja Carra Sto Domingo 2024 (96), meanwhile, comes from an old terraced vineyard planted with around 60% red varieties, predominantly garnacha, and 40 percent white varieties.

Pale in color and aerial in character, it offers a more subtle and delicate expression of a single vineyard, defined by a delineated, ethereal character.

Carlos Sánchez, a relative newcomer, has quickly established himself through his focus on single vineyards. His Carlos Sánchez Buradón Las Plegarias 2024 (97) is a pure garnacha from a limestone parcel planted in 1978 in La Rad. Ethereal and contemporary in style, it combines herbal as well as floral side side and vibrant red fruit with an absorbing aromatic profile and remarkable finesse.

Fresh Roar from the Santa Lucia Highlands

From California this week, Staff Writer and Critic Ryan Montgomery was tasting a few choice offerings in his Napa office, with the standouts coming from Roar, which is based in the Santa Lucia Highlands and offered a lineup that highlights both vineyard character and the freshness of the 2024 vintage.

The Roar Chardonnay Santa Lucia Highlands Sierra Mar Vineyard 2024 (95) shows impressive tension and focus, balancing power and freshness with a mineral, saline edge. The palate is tightly wound, with bright acidity cutting through a textural, almost full-bodied mouthfeel before a long finish. While unmistakably Californian in style, it also shows sophistication and purity beneath the influence of oak and the region’s abundant sunshine.

Roar also impressed with its pinot noirs, sourced from two of the Santa Lucia Highlands’ most respected vineyards, Rosella’s and Sierra Mar. The Roar Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands Rosella’s Vineyard 2024 (95) is deeply scented and aromatic, showing red cherries, raspberries, dried flowers and red candy apple. The mid-weight palate offered fine-grained tannins, fresh acidity and a generous mouthfeel, finishing ripe and focused.

The Roar Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands Sierra Mar Vineyard 2024 (95) shows a brighter, more lifted profile, with aromas of red cherries, cranberries, crushed herbs and spice alongside a floral edge. The mid-weight palate delivered fine-grained tannins, vibrant acidity and a tightly wound, mineral-edged finish. This is a nicely balanced wine and greatly expressive of site.

While all these wines lean toward a more traditional Californian style, they retain freshness and energy, supported by quality vineyard sources and the cool conditions of the excellent 2024 vintage.

– Jacobo García Andrade and Ryan Montgomery contributed reporting.

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by James Suckling and the other tasters at JamesSuckling.com. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. Some will be included in upcoming tasting reports.

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