The wines we will gift -and wish for- this Christmas

This article is the brainchild of Yolanda Ortiz de Arri. Perhaps she already had a list of bottles she was keen to give? In any case, the challenge she set the Spanish Wine Lover team was twofold: not only were we asked to choose a wine for a specific person, but also one we would love to receive ourselves.

The suitability of any wine gift depends entirely on the closeness of the relationship. The stronger the bond, the more emotional the gesture is likely to become. Yet giving a bottle does not necessarily mean that the recipient is a wine enthusiast. You may wish to take into account the vintage, to mark a special date, the place of origin, to evoke a meaningful location; the artistic qualities of the label; or even the size of the bottle to ensure it makes an impact. Then there are personal preferences to consider: the type of wine (white, red, sparkling, fortified, etc.), the age and style (young or aged), and finally the emotional resonance. How many emotions can be squeezed into a bottle?

As for the wines we would like to receive, we have allowed ourselves complete freedom. Of course, no one should feel compelled to satisfy the whims of this group of journalists and wine communicators. 

Every contributor to SWL in 2025, including photographer Abel Valdenebro, took up the challenge, with just one stipulation to remain aligned with the focus of the website: the wines had to be Spanish.

Thomas Götz

To give as a gift: Victoria Ordoñez Voladeros 2017 White (DO Sierras de Málaga)
This wine reminds me of a confident Parisian lady from the 1920s. Beyond its graceful character, it comes with a fascinating story: Inspired by old books describing top-quality vineyards on the Santo Pitar mountain, Victoria Ordóñez set out to find them in 2015. During her first excursion, her car skidded off a steep track; she survived only because a thicket of bushes stopped it from plunging down the slope. A few weeks later, once she had recovered, she found a vineyard on Santo Pitar at over 1,000 metres elevation. Still tended by a local family, it had miraculously escaped phylloxera, which had devastated the region. Nobody really knows how old its Pedro Ximénez vines are. What is certain, though, is that Voladeros carries on the tradition of Málaga’s great mountain wines —a beauty shaped by luck, resilience, and curiosity; qualities I wish for everyone I care about. As it matures so gracefully, I choose my favourite vintage —2017— to give as a Christmas gift. 

To receive as a gift: Rafael Palacios Sorte O Soro 2020 White (DO Valdeorras)
I tasted the 2020 vintage of this wine at Madrid Fusion earlier this year,  and its vibrancy, elegance and endless depth quite literally took my breath away. Having visited Rafael Palacios a few years ago, I vividly remember his amphitheatre-like O Soro vineyard in the highlands of Valdeorras, a place as remote and singular as the wine itself . I would love to share a bottle with my wife over a special dinner at home, but I hesitate to buy it because it’s priced at over €500. It would, however, make a great Christmas gift. And if it doesn’t appear under the tree, I can only hope for a win in El Gordo lottery instead! Then, the would be no problem anymore. 

Amaya Cervera

To give as a gift: Suertes del Marqués Trenzado 2024 White (DO Valle de la Orotava) and De La Riva Manzanilla Fina Miraflores Baja (DO Jerez – Xérèz - Sherry) 
I have two white wines to gift this year, and I simply can't choose between them. I tasted them side by side a few weeks ago at a presentation in Madrid, in the presence of their producers: Jonatan García of Suertes del Marqués and Ramiro Ibáñez, co-owner of De La Riva (Willy Pérez is the other half of the project). Sitting next to me was Montse Alonso, head of the communications agency Mahala Wine. We were so impressed by the depth and salinity of both wines, each in its own distinctive way, that Montse immediately went online to buy a case of each. I asked her to set aside two bottles of each for me. At just under €60 in total, I thought it an excellent deal. I intend to lay down one bottle of each wine for two to three years.

The other two bottles are destined for gifts. The manzanilla is for my SWL colleague, Yolanda Ortiz de Arri, who is passionate about sherry and all things related to that wonderful region with its luminous white albariza soils. A look at her many articles about the area on the website is proof enough. She shares this passion with her husband, and they frequently travel there together. While many wine lovers will probably greet their Christmas guests with sparkling wine, I'm sure Mikel and Yolanda will be pouring this deep, elegant manzanilla.

The Trenzado, made from Listán Blanco, is for my friend Antonio, a pianist and teacher originally from the Canary Islands. A few weeks ago, he played a charming two-piano recital at the International Contemporary Music Festival in Madrid. I often think of him when I drink wines from the Canary Islands, but this time I couldn't help drawing a parallel between the historic cordón trenzado vine training system and the way musical notes intertwine to form a melody. Both worlds have an artistic dimension, yet both demand considerable hard work.

To receive as a gift: Vega Sicilia Único 1970 Red (DO Ribera del Duero)
This was a much more difficult choice. I consider myself privileged not only for the many samples I receive, whether for tasting or as gifts, but also for the remarkable wines I have been able to enjoy thanks to the generosity of producers and fellow enthusiasts who have shared some truly special and enlightening bottles with me over the years. One of the most generous persons I know is Pablo Álvarez, owner of Vega Sicilia. As a wine journalist, the bottles that remain etched in my memory are those that taught me something new, and they span almost every price point and style. Even so, the 1970 Único, which I first tasted in the late 1990s while researching an article on Spain's most expensive wines for Sibaritas magazine, raised my standards considerably in terms of complexity and depth. It also made me realise that some wines have the power to transcend the world of wine itself.

Yolanda Ortiz de Arri

To give as a gift: ¿Y tú de quién eres? 2024 White, Bodegas Gratias, Casas Ibáñez (Albacete)
Having discovered that I’m the lucky recipient of one of Amaya’s gifts, many readers may quite rightly think I’m terribly ungrateful for not immediately returning the favour —but I promise I’ll thank her properly as soon as we see each other. Ever understanding and endlessly flexible, Amaya is a great boss/work colleague, so I know she won’t hold it against me. 

Even so, the gift I wanted to highlight here is the one I’ve chosen for my neighbour Marta. In her bookshop, Mara-Mara in Vitoria —a cosy space infused with good taste and a genuine love of books and the written word— Marta receives dozens of my parcels and wine boxes throughout the year, always handing them over with a smile. Knowing her fondness for all things artisan, good stories and white wine, one of the presents I’ve chosen for her is this ¿Y tú de quién eres? This wine is made by Ana, Iván, José and Silvia at Bodegas Gratias with the same dedication Marta brings to her trade. Crowdfunded from the start of the project in 2006, the wine is the result of recovering varieties such as Tardana, Coloraíllo and Albilla, among others, from old plots that might well have disappeared were it not for the Gratias family’s determination to preserve this viticultural heritage.

It’s an easy-drinking, fun wine —perhaps one she might uncork with her customers as she celebrates the shop’s 11th anniversary these days. Here’s to independent bookshops, to courageous women, and to the wines that root us to the land.

To receive as a gift: Puro Rofe Juan Bello 2023 White (DO Lanzarote)
In 2018 I visited the project that Rayco Fernández —then a wine distributor in the Canary Islands— had launched in Lanzarote alongside a group of local growers. I was captivated by the stark beauty of the landscape, the uniqueness of the soils and, above all, the people: growers like Ascensión Robayna and Vicente Torres, who continue to farm their vines by hand in a semi-desert territory shaped increasingly by tourism.

Puro Rofe was also the island’s first serious attempt to vinify by zones and individual plots, working in a low-intervention, sustainable way with local varieties, without added yeasts and without filtration. The wines, fresh and full of vibrant energy, have gained depth and individuality as the vintages have passed since that first 2017 release.

One of the wines I enjoy most is Juan Bello, which I’ve included in several editions of a course about Spanish wines for foreign professionals, organised by ICEX and The Wine Studio, and which I’m fortunate enough to teach. Made from Listán Blanco, Malvasía and Diego grown in the island’s traditional hoyos, Juan Bello is an elegant, pure expression of place that, sadly, came to an end after the generous —in both quantity and quality— 2023 harvest.

This is precisely why I’d love to receive one of the last remaining bottles still out there: a white that transports you straight to the heart of one of the most singular wine landscapes on the planet.

Anna Harris-Noble

To give as a gift: Bideona Las Parcelas 2021 White (DOCa Rioja)
Unless you know someone's taste very well, I think it's best to go for wine that looks and tastes classically elegant rather than anything too wild or funky, as well as selecting something special that isn't available from their local supermarket.
Las Parcelas Blanco from Bideona is a wine to thrill the white Burgundy lovers in your life. Sourced from 50-year-old vines, it is a field blend of mainly Viura with a little Malvasía Riojana and Cayetana Blanca. A nose of blossom, citrus zest and wild herbs is followed by beautifully long saline minerality, depth and freshness. It also looks and tastes like it costs more than its £20 (€14.5) price tag, which is always a welcome bonus, and it would pair wonderfully with the roast turkey that is traditionally served here in the UK, where I live. 

For what it's worth, it was a favourite when served at an Old Vine Conference Christmas press event a couple of years ago.

To receive as a gift: Olivares Monastrell 2020 Sweet (DO Jumilla)
 The perfect present for me is something I wouldn't normally buy for myself, either because it's out of my price range (hello Termanthia or Vega Sicilia Único Reserva Especial) or it's a style that I don't usually buy.

When I open a fortified or sweet wine at Christmas I always wonder why I don't do it more often, as a glass of Oloroso can turn leftover cheese, nuts and a few crackers into a delectable treat. 

Olivares Monastrell Dulce would be a serious upgrade from the generic cream sherry that I buy to put in the Christmas cake and end up drinking surreptitiously over the festive season. Made from ungrafted old vine Monastrell, its figgy sweetness and dried cherry fruit are balanced with a wonderfully saline, black olive note. Absolutely perfect for after-dinner drinking at this time of year, whether with chocolate, pudding or blue cheese. And at around £26 for a 50cl bottle, it's one that I do have some hope of finding in my stocking!

Nika Shevela

To give as a gift: Cobrana 2022, Verónica Ortega Red, Bierzo
This festive season, I would gift a wine that is beautifully balanced yet brimming with energy —like a chic evening satin gown with an unexpectedly oversized chequered pocket. Enter Cobrana by Verónica Ortega, one of my favourite Spanish winemakers: a vibrant, Mencía-dominant blend with Palomino, Doña Blanca and other varieties, all sourced from old-vine parcels on high-altitude, bluish slate soils in the village of Cobrana, in Bierzo Alto.

I have long been fascinated by Verónica’s pursuit of purity and her delicate interpretation of Mencía, shaped as much by her years in Burgundy’s wine temples as by her resolute character and clear-cut ideas —qualities that came through vividly at a tasting I was lucky to attend. Perhaps it is also a reflection of her free Andalusian soul: a childhood in Cádiz with five elder brothers and a famous bullfighting father. Cobrana would make the perfect gift for another free-spirited wine woman who remains a constant inspiration: my very first wine teacher in Barcelona, Chus Brión.

To receive as a gift: Marcenca 2021 Red, Terroir Sense Fronteres, Montsant 
I will always be an unconditional fan of great Garnachas, and this one hails from a particularly special corner of Montsant: the Els Montalts vineyard in Cabacés, at 800 metres above sea level, on red clay soils. Marcenca by Terroir Sense Fronteres is a poised red aged in concrete that surprises with its impressive purity and presence: think wild red berries, forest floor and mineral hints.

At just under €80, it feels like a feasible present, with the added bonus that whoever gifts it will almost certainly be invited to share it with me and my ultimate garnachista husband. He, in turn, will almost inevitably rise to the occasion cooking a feast to match, whether that means a four-hour, from-scratch Beef Wellington or an indulgent festive lasagna.

Abel Valdenebro

To give as a gift: Ziries 2021 Red, Bodegas Ziries, not under DO
Christmas is a time when emotions crop up left, right and centre. One moment, they are tinged with bittersweet memories of those no longer with us; the next, they are filled with joy, as we celebrate with those still around —simply grateful that they are here, and that we are too.

The wine I’ve chosen to give, Ziries 2021 from Bodegas Ziries, serves a double purpose. The first is to honour a dear friend, Fernando Parrilla. He is one of those people who are always there, even when you don’t see them; someone who has built his life around giving freely and with an open heart. Luckily, we have shared plenty of time together lately, perhaps even more than either of us expected. Fernando is what Santi Rivas of Colectivo Decantado would call a “civilian”: not a wine lover chasing the latest release, but an excellent drinker all the same, nonetheless. He enjoys and shares, and cares very little about technical detail or provenance. Watching him taste something new —and almost always enjoy them— is a real pleasure.

The second purpose is also rooted in friendship. Ziries is made by my friend Javier Castro. It is a red Garnacha from the village of Cuerva in Toledo and this vintage is particularly fresh and easy to drink, with lower alcohol and extraction and a brighter, lighter fruit profile, yet still full of character and sense of place. It is also his first wine made entirely on his own, as since 2021 he began to run the winery solo after parting ways with his former partners. In today’s climate, keeping a winery afloat single-handedly while juggling a full-time job, family and social life strikes me as a genuinely heroic act. So giving this wine isn’t just about sharing something I enjoy and know will be appreciated; it is also a way of supporting a small project built on enthusiasm, care, respect and a huge amount of energy.

To receive as a gift: Fino Villamarta primera saca, Bodegas Luis Pérez, DO Jerez-Xères-Sherry
When it comes to the wine I would like to receive, I am an easy date —plenty of options would make me happy. Even so, a first saca of Villamarta would be pure joy. It’s the wine that renewed my personal pact of loyalty with the wines of Jerez and brought back memories of truly legendary bottles. It moved me deeply and would certainly strike an emotional chord. I would gladly settle for a standard 75 cl bottle, though we all know that the true minimum unit of pleasure is a magnum. 

If that’s not on hand —or other Jerez treasures— an Escolma red from Luis Anxo Rodríguez or Sesenta e Nove Arrobas by Xurxo Alba of Bodegas Albamar would also put a broad smile to my face.

In the end, giving or receiving a bottle of wine is like signing an unwritten contract of shared enjoyment, whether together or apart. Because wine, if it isn’t shared, is not quite wine at all.