Spain Proves Wine Can Be Aged and Inexpensive — Here Are 7 Reds to Seek Out

When it comes to wine, the Venn diagram of delicious and affordable doesn’t always have the most robust center. But when it comes to wines from Spain, that overlap is staggeringly large.

Spain also makes some of the world’s most age-worthy red wines. They can rival the long-lived wines of Barolo or Bordeaux, yet at the same time many of them sell for prices that make them relative bargains. 

Those wines also arrive on your table older than most. Thanks to strict aging requirements in many of Spain’s most acclaimed regions, wineries are required to cellar top wines — reservas and gran reservas — for several years before release. This means that, under these designations, the most recent vintage on the shelf may actually be a five-year-old wine.

Here are seven great bottles of Spanish wines that are released after multiple years of aging and can be found for less than $40.

2015 Bodegas Montecillo Rioja Reserva ($20)

Winemaker Mercedes García Rupérez’s red blend sees two years in barrel and two additional years in bottle before release. That time equals flavor: Imagine walnuts and fresh black cherries. Montecillo’s wines age gorgeously; at our tasting, we opened a 1994 Gran Reserva and it was fully alive after 30 years.

2013 La Antigua Clásico Crianza ($24)

Winemaker Alberto Orte’s La Antigua Clásico grows old-vine Grenache, Tempranillo, and Graciano in western Rioja. The high-altitude vineyards are so cold that grapes aren’t harvested until November. This red boasts fresh red plums and cherries balanced with nutty, earthy backnotes — and surprising youth for an 11-year-old wine.

2019 La Rioja Alta Vina Alberdi Reserva ($26)

This reserva has classic Rioja bones, but it really comes alive through its distinctive oak character: It’s aged in both new and used American oak barrels that are built on-site at La Rioja Alta’s bodega. Expect milk chocolate–covered blueberries balanced with tart blackberries, and a pleasant and subtle touch of smoke.

2016 R. López de Heredia Vina Tondonia Vina Cubillo ($27)

It’s hard to find a more classic expression of red Rioja than R. López de Heredia’s. This storied bodega, known for its elegant pairing of American oak with vivid fruit, has been making wine the same way for nearly 150 years. The flavors in this ripe yet restrained red suggest cranberries and cherry-vanilla ice cream.

2019 Portal Tinto ($30)

Situated in the southwestern corner of Catalonia, the Terre Alta appellation is marked by hot, dry summers. This climate is perfect for ripening black grapes like the Grenache, Carignane, Merlot, Syrah, and Tempranillo in this almost-jammy red blend. Tannins, spice, and acidity give the wine lift, but it retains a velvety mouthfeel.

2019 Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos de San Vicente de la Sonsierra ($37)

A tiny village (population 1,000) within the province of La Rioja, San Vincente de la Sonsierra is the home of the 80-year-old vines on the hillsides of the Ebro River that produce this wine. Remelluri’s Tempranillo-dominant blend suggests savory hoisin sauce and fire-roasted blackberries.

2012 Bodegas Faustino I Gran Reserva Rioja ($37)

Faustino’s gold wire–wrapped bottle, with its arresting Rembrandt portrait of Dutch merchant Nicolaes van Bambeeck, is iconic, and the wine inside is equally impactful. The mostly Tempranillo-based blend is the best-selling Gran Reserva in the world; it maintains fresh aromas despite 12 years of age.