2008 Vinedos de Paganos El Puntido Rioja Gran Reserva 750 ml

In the early 2010s, when Rioja’s icons started rolling out their 2008s, Wine Advocate responded with big scores. Benjamín Romeo’s $300 Contador topped the list with 98 points. Legends like Artadi and Lopez de Heredia weren’t far behind.

But while the Eguren family, owners of Sierra Cantabria—best known for their highly allocated $700 Rioja Mágico—released a few wines, they didn’t put all their cards on the table. In true Rioja tradition, they held back. They waited patiently. And last year, when they finally released their 2008 Vinedos Páganos El Puntido Gran Reserva, it made a massive splash.

The flagship from their single-vineyard project, this bottle leapfrogged nearly every ‘08 Rioja  Advocate rated, garnering 97 points and earning a spot as the #1 Gran Reserva of the vintage.

Made from the lowest-yielding, highest-altitude sections of a vineyard known for its impeccable quality, El Puntido has a lower production than California cult icons like Screaming Eagle and Harlan—and only 300 cases of it made it to the US.

The 2008 is “glorious,” in Advocate’s opinion, and when we tasted it at our judging panel, it was hard to stop luxuriating in the aromas and take a sip, but once we did, it was nearly impossible not to finish our glasses. The previous vintage of this wine earned a 4.5-star member-rating, and this edition is even better.

Aging in new French oak for 28 months, as Páganos does with the El Puntido, is expensive and impractical—but so is holding onto a wine for more than a decade after bottling. Luckily, those extreme costs aren’t passed along to the consumer, making for a profound wine with a price tag within reach.