This year's line-up of top Spanish wines represents a shifting landscape.
It shows a more modern, forward-focused Spain, one edging away from the staunch traditions of hierarchical reds, painstakingly aged in barrel and bottle, to fresher wines marked by place, consumer thirst and the winemaker's own sense of vision. Inspired – but not held captive – by tradition, let's dig into which contemporary giants are leading the pack.
| Related stories: |
| The World's Best Australian Wines of 2026 |
| The World's Best Sauvignon Blancs |
| The World's Best Tequilas of 2026 |
Number one is the great Pingus of Ribera del Duero. Old-vine Tempranillo, this wine was first made in 1995 by Danish winemaker, Peter Sisseck and was immediately catapulted into cult status due to the enthusiasm of a certain Robert Parker.
PIngus is all about two vineyards first planted in 1929, and some of the current old vines are more than 65 years of age. The yields are tiny, and what is made then spends time aging in oak barrique. As a result, Pingus has established itself as one of the great wines of modern Spain with a critic score of 97 points a price-point of $1077.
Number two is another modern Spanish heavyweight, L'Ermita Velles Vinyes by Álvaro Palacios. L'Ermita is a rugged vineyard in Priorat once tended to by Carthusian monks and Palacios, on spotting its potential, snapped it up christening it L'Ermita in honor of the chapel that sits on the hill.
With the first vintage released in 1993, L'Ermita is pure Garnacha – for which Palacios is famed – and, like Pingus, has been subjected to rave review after rave review. Resulting in a 97 point critic score and average price point of $1137.
Three is Las Beatas by Bodega Lanzaga in the traditional Spanish winemaking heartland of Rioja. The story of Bodega Lanzaga began in 1998, when Telmo Rodríguez and Pablo Eguzkiza discovered the perfect site in Rioja to make a wine "of the people", and, in 2011, Las Beatas was born.
Harkening back to the great Riojas of the 18th Century, Las Beatas is a blend of up to nine local varieties, which is then aged in 1200-liter foudre. It has a critic score of 97 points and averages around $386 – a marked shift from the prices commanded by Pingus and L'Ermita.
Four is another Rioja, Viña El Pisón by Bodega Artadi, which was founded in 1985 by Juan Carlos López de Lacalle, a winemaker celebrated for his revolutionary vision. In order to bypass the strict regulations of traditional Rioja, Artadi left the Rioja DOCa in 2015 and is now simply labeled as Álava.
Straight Tempranillo, Viña El Pisón is one of Artadi's most celebrated wines with a critic score of 97 points, the wine comes in at around $329, similar to Las Beatas.
Number five is another monetary big-hitter this time from Bierzo. Founded in 1998, Descendientes de J. Palacios is a collaboration between the aforementioned Priorat great, Álvaro Palacios and his nephew, Ricardo Perez Palacios. Together, they have been credited with elevating Bierzo to the world stage.
Descendientes de J. Palacios is home to old low-yielding bush vines and specializes entirely in Mencia – which has become the signature variety of Bierzo. La Faraona is 100 percent old-vine Mencia produced from a single vineyard and is widely regarded as the estate's flagship wine.
With a score of 97 points and limited availability, it clocks in at a cool $1249, joining the ranks of Pingus and L'Ermita in heavyweight pricing.
Six is La Diva by Dominio de Es. Nestled in the Ribera del Duero, Dominio de Es is the passion project of Bertrand Sourdais – originally from the Loire – who focuses on small biodynamic production.
The vineyards sit at a relatively high altitude and as a result the days are warm while the nights are cool giving the wines natural elegance and complexity. As with most of his wines, Sourdais likes to blend Tempranillo with a tiny dash of Albillo – a grape indigenous to central and north-central Spain – and La Diva is no different.
The estate's flagship wine, La Diva has a critic score of 96 points and a price point of $616.
Number seven is another by Artadi, this time their El Carretil (the cart), a Tempranillo with a critic score of 96 points, and a comparatively reasonable price point of $181.
Eight is Les Manyes from Terroir al Límit in Priorat. Founded in 2001 by Dominik Huber and Eben Sadie, Terroir al Límit places a strong focus on Grenache and Carignan. Full-pelt Grenache, Les Manyes is considered the estate's leading single-vineyard bottling and has a critic score of 96 points and a price tag of $227.
Nine is the Mágico by Sierra Cantabria in Rioja. Sierra Cantabria was founded in 1870 by the Eguren family and has continued to be family-owned for five generations. Mágico is a classic Rioja blend made predominantly with Tempranillo and Garnacha but bolstered by various other varieties.
Adored by the critics, Mágico has an impressive score of 97 points and a price point to match at $653.
Finally, number 10 is the Rumbo al Norte by Comando G. Founded by Daniel Landi and Fernando Garcia in Castilla y León, they focus on old-vine Garnacha with vines typically aged between 50 and 80 years old.
Their Rumbo al Norte is Garnacha aged in French oak. With a score of 95 points, it comes in at $1052.
Despite the wild flux in pricing, from the affable $181 of Artadi's El Carretil to the deadly serious $1249 commanded by La Faraona, all of Spain's best wines score 95 and above and all – notably – are red.
It is also worth noting that despite the increasing move to more modern styles, red is still very much the flag to Spain's bull.
