Viñedos El Pacto consolidates its excellence: once again among the best wines of the year in Tim Atkin MW's Rioja Report

Yesterday, the long-awaited Rioja Report 2024 by Tim Atkin MW was released, arguably the wine critic who has the deepest understanding of the Designation of Origin. This year, the British critic visited hundreds of wineries and tasted a total of 1,332 wines to compile his report. Among them, Viñedos El Pacto stands out for its terroir, with 8 wines scoring between 95 and 91 points. Our winery, closely tied to the terroir, once again ranks among the Third Growths in Atkin's classification.

The three wines with the highest scores, 95 points each, stand on the podium of the "Best of the year," the critic's best wines of the year. Moreover, these three wines originate from the most special vineyard plots in Alto Najerilla, specifically in Cárdenas: El Pacto de Cárdenas Ojo Gallo 2022, Valdechuecas Viñedo Singular 2021, and Jesús Acha Blanco 2016.

Riojanda Viñedo Singular 2021 and El Pacto del Alto Najerilla 2022 have reached 93 points, while El Pacto de la Sonsierra 2021 has achieved 91 points. Two wines, which have not yet been released to the market, have each earned a score of 94 points. These wines include El Pacto Malacara 2021, crafted from vines predominantly planted with Mazuelo in the Cárdenas area, and Jesús Acha Tinto 2019, a tribute to the eponymous viticulturist and father of Raúl Acha.

For Richi Arambarri, General Manager of Viñedos El Pacto, "with excellent scores like these, Viñedos El Pacto solidifies its philosophy of respect for the vineyard and preservation of the extraordinary viticultural heritage we have." He further explains, “We are very proud of the work we do among our century-old vines in the Alto Najerilla, and this drives us to continue valuing biodiversity, that natural viticulture that respects the rhythms of nature, and our return to village wines that convey terroir.”