Pago de Carraovejas was founded in 1988 and is located in the town of Peñafiel in Ribera del Duero. The name translates loosely to “the place where the sheep walk by.” Founder José María Ruiz took a circuitous route to vineyard owner, working his way through the restaurant trade (cook, waiter, then sommelier) in his hometown of Segovia. In 1982 he founded his own restaurant and it soon became one of the city's top-rated venues. The winery was a logical extension of José María insistence on serving his restaurant clients the very best. The fact that he started a winery primairly to provide wine for his restaurant indicates what a perfectionist Ruiz is. The commercial success of the Pago de Carraovejas wines has been spectacular since the first vintage (1991) was released in 1993. In addition to the 100,000 bottles served annually at the restaurant, the wines have become a must for quality restaurant wine lists in all of Spain. Every vintage is quickly sold out and allocations continue to be hard to come by.

Clos Rougeard is one of the best Cabernet Francs in the world, and can stand toe to toe with some of Bordeaux’s top estates. Here’s what Master of Wine Clive Coates has to say about this unique producer.

Every so often, for reasons which at first are difficult to explain, you come across someone in a relatively minor appellation who produces extraordinarily good wine. Even when you get there, lured by magnificent bottles you have sampled elsewhere, you find it hard to answer the basic question:  why are these so good?  What is it about this particular domaine which makes it so special? What do they have, in terms of terroir, and what is it that they do with it, that produces such excitement?

We love Priorat here at Farmstead! The tiny Spanish region excels at producing brooding, long-lived reds, and Vall Llach, founded in the early 1990s, is no exception. It’s located in the small Catalonian village of Porerra surrounded by steep slate hillsides planted with 60-90-year-old Grenache and Carignan vines (the two traditional red grapes of the region). The estate also has younger plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah.

Sanguis Owner/winemaker Matthias Pippig is restless. Like Manfred Krankl at Sina Qua Non, with whom Pippig worked at LA’s famous La Brea Bakery, Pippig never makes the same wine twice, and each vintage features new wines and his own original artwork. “Our wines attempt to express both the unique characteristics of the sites we farm, as well as our personal stylistic preferences”, he says. “We seek to combine power and richness with balance and finesse, and the inherit beauty that the fruit possesses when harvested at optimal ripeness. There are no formulas and no sequels. Each wine is a unique blend, so made to coax the best out of the ingredients with which the vintage provides us.”