While Bordeaux and Burgundy push collectors further out of reach every vintage, Spain quietly offers some of the world's most age-worthy wines at prices that shouldn't be possible. Rachael Ryan makes the case — and backs it up with bottles from López de Heredia, Vega Sicilia, Muga, CVNE, Clos Mogador, La Rioja Alta, and Telmo Rodríguez, ranging from $59.99 to a once-in-a-lifetime 1961 Gran Reserva.
Read MoreFew Rioja producers walk the line between tradition and modernity as gracefully as Bodegas Miguel Merino. Founded in the mid-1990s by Miguel Sr. and now guided by his son Miguel Jr. and daughter-in-law Erika, the winery is making some of the most elegant, terroir-driven wines in Briones—including single-vineyard bottlings of Garnacha, Mazuelo, and a white Rioja that will make you rethink the region entirely. Seven bottles from $21.99 to $64.99, all direct import.
Read MoreRachael Ryan has been hunting for the right Spanish direct import partner for years. She found it in Dominio de Atauta — a Ribera del Duero producer working with pre-Phylloxera vines averaging 85 years old, some exceeding 120, at elevations that give the wines a freshness and elegance the region isn't always known for. Four bottles, from $19.99 to $44.99, all worth your attention.
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