“Unbelievable value!” - Tim Atkin MW, 97 points

Pepe Mendoza is clearly a winemaker with a lot of integrity, because, in 2022, he decided against bottling his top cuvees, as he felt the quality wasn’t quite good enough to allow them to merit their own separate labels, so all of his ‘single vineyard’ wines went into this, his entry level wine. There’s probably a mathematical formula, which could calculate whether a wine is better in a lesser vintage if it includes the top vineyards or if it is better in a better vintage without them, but we prefer to use our tastebuds and can confirm that it is the former, in this case at least! This wine is normally unoaked, but Pepe felt that the quality was such (thanks to those top-notch grapes) that the wine could handle it, so about one third of it was matured in barrel, raising the quality even higher.

It’s a blend of 70% Monastrell, 27% Giró and 3% Alicante Bouschet and has very fluid and vibrant fruit on both the nose and palate with wild red berries, pomegranate, rhubarb, cascarilla and a lovely touch of plum skin bringing texture to the finish. A ridiculously underpriced wine. 14% alc. Drink now-2028.

Organic (certified).

Press reviews:

Tim Atkin: “Unbelievable value! This is a wonderfully vibrant and elegant wine that shows off sunny Mediterranean fruit. Wonderfully zesty on the nose with Campari and sundried tomato, the palate is all blueberries and plum. Addictively morish with fresh acidity and a saline note on the finish. 2024-2028.” 97 points

The Wine Advocate: “The red blend 2022 Tinto was produced with 70% Monastrell, 27% Giró and 3% Alicante Bouschet with a Mediterranean character of aromatic herbs, pine needles and esparto grass, balsamic and ripe without excess with 14% alcohol and a juicy and balanced palate. This is the only red he bottled in 2022, a year when the temperatures were very high night and day. He found that the wines didn't have the brightness he wanted, so he decided to only make this entry-level red, which is a very good one, as it has the best of the rest of the wines that were not produced. The oak is very subtle and the freshness is very good. This is excellent. Drink now-2028.” 92 points