You could taste hundreds of Riojas in the sub-$15 category, and I guarantee you won't find a better value than Montebuena's Cuvee KPF. There's just so much to like about this smooth and highly attractive red wine, and the price, you really can't beat it!
2019 Montebuena Rioja 'Cuvee KPF'
92 points James Suckling, 90 points Vinous Media
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I go way back with this wine, as it was one of my go-to wines back when I first moved to Asheville and 2003 and worked at a wine shop downtown. I just loved the medium-bodied, silky style of this Tempranillo, and Lynn and I drank enough of it to fill a small swimming pool. Good news, I tasted the new vintage last week, and it is just as good now as it was then.
I'm sure some of you are wondering what the "KPF" notates....it's short for Kysela Per et Fils, the importer of this wine for about the past two decades. Montebuena – which means ‘good mountain’ – is the name of one of the best quality areas of the ancient winemaking village of Labastida, in the Rioja Alavesa.
The wine is 100% Tempranillo from 25+ year old vines, aged for 4 months in new French oak. The finished wine is not only one of the top Rioja values out there, it's also one of the best red wine values in the world. Smooth and fine-grained, this one offers up surprising depth and complexity at a great price. Attractive notes of juicy cherry, plum, and strawberry meld with more complex notes of vanilla, spice box, and cedar in this delightful and easy-drinking red.
James Suckling and Josh Raynolds of Vinous Media had great things to say as well. Raynolds said a "hint of vanilla emerges with air and adds a sweetening touch to fresh cherry and boysenberry flavors." Not to be outdone, Suckling picked up "lots of toasted oak with coffee and chocolate to the ripe-plum character."
Whether you need/want a crowd-pleasing, value-priced red for any occasion or a red that will pair wonderfully with comfort food staples like bbq, burgers, or pizza, this is the ticket. I bought my distributor out of this one, so you won't find it anywhere else in Asheville.
ORDER NOW in our online store.
Josh Spurling
Owner, Operator, Wine Monger
Table Wine Asheville