30. Sep, 2022

The best 10 Malaga wines in 2022

In IV CIVAS Edition (International Sommeliers Wine Contest of Spain)., the 10 Best Malaga wines were selected among all the finalists from Spain. Thus we find 3 sweet wines, 2 white and 5 red, with varieties such as Melonera, Tintilla, Pinot Noir, Petit Verdot or Chardonnay. Although on the podium of honor there is a 100% Moscatel wine and another 100% PX. If Malaga has something, it is its soils and the personality of its elaborations.

During the last 18 months, the AkataVino Wine Magazine & Guide team, directed by Antonio Jesús Pérez and María Navarro, have tasted and valued more than 3,000 wines from 1,000 wineries, and only the wineries with wines 90+ Points have received direct nomination to participate in the IV Edition CIVAS Contest 2021 (International Sommeliers Wine Contest of Spain). The nominated wines have been evaluated for two weeks in a double-blind tasting.

The JURY of the IV CIVAS 2021 Contest and the COMMITTEE of the AkataVino Magazine & Wine Guide Magazine award the XIX AKATAVINO 2022 AWARDS to the Best Wines of the year in Spain. Launching the TOP 10 lists for the Best wines for each of the types and main production areas. Those are the results from Malaga: the best ten wines with the most points.

Altocielo Bodegas Lunares, 94 points

The three varieties (Syrah: 80%, C. Sauvignon: 13% and Graciano: 7%) come from the estate of the same name as the wine, the vineyard is located at an altitude of 900 m in the middle of a holm oak forest. They work with a viticulture that respects the environment, coexisting with the existing biodiversity.

12 months of aging in French oak.

A very pleasant wine, intense in notes of red fruit, sensations of excellent maturity, and perfumed, where blue flowers form the aromatic epicenter together with light notes from a noble ageing, a wine that defines the complexity and homage of wines. born in the Serranía de Ronda.

ELEONOR Naturalmente Dulce, Bodega Cezar 95 points

Naturally sweet muscatel (no added sugar), from strains of more than 100 years of organic farming, a wine with a great aroma, seductive and balanced. Moscatel de Alejandría grape, traditionally grown on century-old vines.

It is stored for twelve months in French oak barrels on its LIES.

A wine to drink Malaga, the European cradle of the best naturally sweet muscatel wines, a wine with eternal aromas, very perfumed, intense and rich in a multitude of nuances, reproducing a sweet and fresh sensation that few wines can match.

Bodega Badman Wines, Chardonnay, 95 points

White barrel-fermented, 100% Chardonnay.

Aged on fine lees for 6 months by batonnage.

One of the great surprises of the IV Edition of the CIVAS Contest, a white with a very high aromatic and taste level, which is associated with a very attractive presentation in keeping with the quality of the wine. Complex with a wide aromatic spectrum derived from its fermentation process and barrel aging. Badman Wines shows where a noble Chardonnay wine made in Ronda can go.

Antiqua Real Fabrica de Hojalate San Miquel 1725 Tintilla, 96 points

Very limited production to 2500 bottles. A recovery project carried out in 2016 by its owner Enrique Ruíz. Rehabilitating the first blast furnace and steel industry in Spain, which Philip V ordered to be built in 1725, and planting 15,000 vines.

A wine that is born in a place full of personal, family and industrial experiences, Enrique Ruiz (winemaker) is a display of respect for nature, using lighter bottles and without paper labels, sealed with beeswax. Being the electrical production through solar panels. One of those wines that you should try even once in your life.

Nilva Organic, Bodegas Nilva, 96 points

Production limited to just 1,600 bottles. A 100% Moscatel de Alejandría wine born in the 1.8 Ha Viña del Peñoncillo in Manilva (Málaga), located a few meters from the Mediterranean Sea and with a strong oceanic influence due to its proximity to the Strait of Gibraltar. Old vines (56 years old), cultivated on hills of albariza land, with very low yields (<1kg ine) and cultivated in dry land with organic farming>

Aging on fine lees. Fermentation with native yeasts.

A luxury premiere at CIVAS, obtaining for the first time a score higher than 96 points, an elastic, noble, elegant wine with a nose that differentiates it from the rest of the wines made from dry Muscat of Alexandria, without a doubt Nilva Enoturismo has opened a gap among the best wineries in Malaga.

Vetas Selection, Bodegas Vetas, 96 points

With the influence of Bordeaux that exists in Bodega Vetas, grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon could not be missing. In addition to being in an ideal area for Petit Verdot, Vetas Selección harvests the best fruits of this variety which, mixed with the same percentage of Cabernet Franc (biological father), becomes a successful coupage,

Aging for 24 months in French oak barrels of 2nd wine.

Considered a Gran Reserva de Autor made by one of the most prestigious oenologists in our country and a pioneer of quality wines in the Serranía de Ronda (Juan Manuel Vetas). An intense, powerful wine, full of notes that recreate black fruit, violet and white flowers, field spices, smoked and toasted from aging in barrels and above all a wine of decades

Schatz Pinot Noir, Bodega Schatz, 96 points

Natural wines with a good balance, with ripe tannins, smooth and healthy acidity. Friedrich revolutionized the viticulture of Ronda with his arrival, and today he is one of the greatest references of biodynamics in our country.

The labels of their wines are a botanical compilation of the flowers used in biodynamic preparations, ranging from 502 to 508, they are all wild and native plants that grow in their environment. Organic Wine. Own and family harvest from 3 ha.

SENSUAL and full of fruit. It demonstrates the potential of this variety to seduce our senses. A wine with a truly unique waste of red fruit. Very delicate on the whole, excellent work by Friedrich.

Arcos de Moclinejo seco PX solera 1974, bodegas Dimobe, 96 points

The grape comes from the Montes de Málaga area, a territory characterized by a complicated orography, with steep slopes on which we find slate soils.

The aging of this wine is carried out in 2 pampered butts for more than 30 years to obtain just 500 bottles of 50 cl. that express a land, old vines and above all time.

Aromas that remind us of antique furniture, bitter almonds, raisins, liquor store, black fruit configuration, sloes and notes of after eight that refresh its full potential. On the palate it is cuddly, sweet and fresh, advancing on the palate like pure silk, leaving a sustained and pleasant finish that will last in our memories.

Yo solo, Bodegas La Melonera, 96 points

‘Yo Solo, ONLY native Andalusians recovered by the Melonera. Tribute to the promoter of viticulture in the New World.’ Jorge Viladomiu Peitx

“Yo Solo” is the motto that proudly appears on the coat of arms of Bernardo de Gálvez, from Malaga, in whose honor this limited series of 350 bottles has been created.

Only native Andalusian grape varieties recovered after an arduous process have been used: Blasco and Melonera.

Today they shine again in all their splendor at Finca de La Melonera to produce a proudly Andalusian wine that sinks its roots in the memory of time. A practically timeless wine, full of essence, deep, complex, and sophisticated, a great job by its winemaker Ana de Castro.

ARIYANAS Terruño Pizarroso, Bodegas Bentomiz, 97 points

Clara and André have managed to raise the expression of Muscatel de Alejandría to the highest in the lands of the Axarquia of Malaga. Bottling a unique landscape that is reflected through the minerality of its slate soils that give it saline touches that combine perfectly with its sweet and voluptuous profile, a wine that is always fresh due to the balsamic contribution and its acidity that compensates for the alcohol and the sugar.

Naturally sweet with 8 months of aging in new French oak barrels. Bottle 375 cl..

Bottled landscape. Exciting terroir through every glass. The strength and intensity of its aromas is enormous, as well as the wide range that it shows us every time we look at the glass. On the palate it is greasy with great volume and its cleanliness and intensity recreate a multitude of sensations. A wine not to forget.

(original article published in Spanish by AkataVino Magazine)