The top 10 wines I tried in 2025
- Iván González Gaínza
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
And here we are again, my annual exercise of looking back and distilling a year of wine drinking into my favourite Top 10.
Every year we look back on all of the wines we tried/drank and attempt to put them in some order of preference. However, this year felt harder for some reason. Not because the wines were less memorable, but because the year itself unfolded differently.
The first few months were relatively quiet on a personal drinking level, largely due to the nature of our work. Trade fairs, winery visits, and professional tastings dominate that period, and those fleeting sips - however informative - do not necessarily qualify here.
This list is about wines I had time to enjoy properly - at least a full glass shared with friends, a bottle opened at home, or a wine enjoyed in a restaurant.
Most of these wines were therefore discovered in the latter half of the year. As extra additions this year, I have included a few special mentions - and, for the first time, one disappointment.
So, here we go... my top 10 of 2025:
10. Recondita Armonia – Monastrell Dulce Espumoso
One of the privileges of working in wine is access to moments that simply cannot be replicated, and this bottle is proof of that.
Only 50 bottles were made of this sparkling sweet red - yes, red - and I happened to be in exactly the right place, at the right time to ask Felipe Gutiérrez de la Vega if I could take one home.
This wine is pure, jammy, happy indulgence. The fruit flavours were lifted by the bubbles, and a fresh acidity made it fluid and lively. Enjoyed with chocolate, it felt like stepping inside a Black Forest gâteau.
9. Artadi – Quintanilla 2020
Artadi appears on this list almost every year, largely thanks to a few primeur purchases made some time ago that continue to reward, though it is depleting at a good pace.
Quintanilla stands apart from many of the estate’s wines, normally lighter in style, with more depth, body and complexity. To me, the fruit feels riper in this single-vineyard wine compared to La Poza de los Ballesteros or La Hoya. All in all, a great glass and worth every euro.
8. Pazo Señorans – Selección de Añada 2014
Another reminder of how generous fellow wine lovers can be. During an ordinary Thursday doing my rounds, I walked into a restaurant and found myself at a friends' reunion, where they were drinking high quality wines. I was invited to “Get yourself a wine glass” just as the Pazo Señorans made an appearance.
This Albariño is a blockbuster wine.
It demonstrates just how great this grape variety can be. If this were a French wine, it would be well beyond my reach.
7. Luis Pérez – Caberrubia Fino, Saca II
My fondness for Jerez was already evident in the 2024 list. In 2025, this love has matured into deeper exploration - and a willingness to spend a little more.
Caberrubia is, quite simply, the best fino I have tasted to date. The sharper iodine and saline notes step back, making room for orange peel, orange blossom, and a rich, almost oily texture that coats the palate - and stays with you long after.
I am already planning to purchase my next bottle.
6. A. Lamblot – Synergie Champagne
The Champagne revolution is in full swing. If you are still defaulting to the same mass-produced labels, you are missing out.
At the price of a commercial Champagne, this bottle offers something infinitely more precise.
Fine bubbles, subtle aromas, balanced acidity, and remarkable clarity of flavour.
It is simply perfect.
5. The Wine Bang – Amontillado Pisador
There is a video on our social media where I declare my love for this wine. I may have been slightly tipsy, but the sentiment was sincere.
This Amontillado is both complex and gentle - a difficult balance to strike. Dry and sweet, fresh yet autumnal, floral and toasted. A study in contrasts that somehow resolves into harmony. Trying to explain it feels like I am not doing it enough justice.
4. Vicky Torres – Vino de la Isla
After five years of searching, I finally came across one of Vicky Torres’ wines during a brief visit to my hometown in Tenerife. With hand luggage only, the decision was simple: drink it that day.
What a delightful wine! Refined, floral, and quietly expressive, with a volcanic character that emerges gently rather than forcefully. It was like biting into a perfectly ripe, crunchy cherry.
I shared it with my mother on her birthday, with nothing more than almonds on the table. It brought a smile to both of us, and pure joy.
3. Château La Fleur-Pétrus 2001
This is not a wine I would normally buy - partly due to the price, but mostly because of its style. Regular readers will know I am rarely drawn to Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon.
That said, when a friend says "I'm opening this bottle tonight. Are you interested in trying it with me?" The answer is always going to be yes.
The key detail here is the vintage. The 2001 vintage is at its optimum and didn't disappoint. Refined, elegant, and far removed from the heavier Bordeaux experiences I have had in the past.
This is a fantastic reminder of why the great estates still matter, even if their prices have become increasingly difficult to justify.
2. Magna Vides – Bancales del Sardal 2022
If you are taking your own bottle to a restaurant, do it in style, which is exactly what I did.
I took this wine to a restaurant of a close friend and client, with the agreement that a glass would serve as corkage. A bargain.
This red wine is an outstanding expression of old vines: concentrated yet elegant, powerful yet refined. It answers the question of how a wine can be all of these things at once. One of the clear highlights of the year.
1. Carlos Mazo – Barrio Pastores
Across this list, the average price has quietly crept upwards. Except here.
At around €25, this wine is not only the best I drank this year, but also the most under-the-radar, underpriced, and unpretentious of them all.
It sneaks up on you without fanfare or expectation, then slowly reveals layers of character.
Fresh fruit, flowers, roundness, and lift, constantly evolving from the first pour to the last drop. This is everything I look for in a wine - and proof that true quality does not need to be out of reach.
Special Mentions
Boekenhoutskloof Semillon – Pure Semillon is rare in my world, and this bottle was a genuine pleasure.
Albamar PAI 2014 – Tasted at the winery with a group of fellow wine lovers. Everyone wanted to buy it after trying it.
Verónica Ortega Cobrana 2022 – This vintage is simply out of this world.
Biggest Disappointment
L’Ermita 2010 Sorry to say this but... at a price exceeding €1,000 for one bottle, the value proposition simply does not make sense to me. There are countless wines that offer more enjoyment, more emotion, and more meaning for a fraction of the cost.
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