2018 Palacios Remondo La Montesa Rioja
La Montesa seems to always score in the 90s, making this bottle an easy choice in any vintage, but the 2018 is special; you just don’t often hit 93+ points for under $20! Lush, juicy, and easy to drink, this excellent wine exhibits pure red fruits, rose petal notes, savory spices, and the racy acidity we love in a good, mountain Garnachas. Enjoy it now!
Wine Advocate
The quality/price champion 2018 La Montesa is now 100% Garnacha from organically farmed vineyards from the 100-hectare family property that gives the wine its name. It fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel vats and matured in barriques, 85% of them produced with French oak and the rest with American oak. It feels very young, and the oak is still present; and the American oak, which is spicy and smoky, with ashy incense and vanilla with some sweet undertones, gives it a character that brings back the character of the traditional wines from yesteryear in a very clean way. It has vibrant freshness and should develop nicely with a couple of years in bottle.