News & Events
The Wine Merchant Magazine – Top 100 Wines 2025
We are delighted to share that a wine from our portfolio placed in the recent Wine Merchant Magazine’s Top 100 Awards, with a further two receiving commendation. This is no small feat by any means as these wines emerged victorious from a field of more than 1,000 entries, judged by a panel of independent merchants across the UK.
Top 100
Crianza, Finca Nueva 2019
Rioja, Spain
Finca Nueva cultivates 96 ha of vineyards on calcareous-clay and gravel soils, situated on the right bank of the Ebro river in Rioja. All vineyards are all north-facing in order to fully benefit from Atlantic influence. The style is modern and fresh, elegant and easy-drinking. Bright red cherry in colour with pronounced aromas of cassis and ripe red fruit. On the palate, this wine is clean, complex and elegant. Well-balanced with vibrant acidity, the 2019 Crianza from Finca Nueva contains perfectly integrated tannins and a nice finish.
Highly Commended
Petalos, Descendientes de J. Palacios 2022
Bierzo, Spain
Bierzo is home to the Mencía grape, often grown on very steep, precipitous slopes on pre-Cumbrian soils, some of the oldest soils in Europe. The region’s, and indeed Palacios’s, most famous vineyard ‘La Faraona’ is at the highest point of the hill of Corullón, at an altitude of almost 1000 meters and lies on a tectonic fault. This combination of altitude, old vines and complex geology gives an incredibly intricate, ethereal and spell-binding wine. Aromatic notes of rockrose and wild herbs lead into a juicy, rounded palate. More fruit-forward in style, it’s fragrant, velvety, and exceptionally approachable.
Vermut Blanco, Bodegas Lustau
Jerez, Spain
Lustau has, over the years, won multiple medals and trophies, including ‘Best Spanish Winery’ and ‘Best Sherry Producer’ at the IWSC. Current cellar master Sergio Martínez has been awarded the ‘Best Fortifed Winemaker’ trophy by the International Wine Challenge three years in a row. This Vermut is a perfect blend of two wines: a dry, mineral and crisp Fino sherry and a sweet and floral Moscatel wine. On the nose it shows floral, citrusy and herbaceous notes over a mineral base. The finish is bitter and clean with a long and refreshing aftertaste.
