Bodegas Hijos de Juan Gil Juan Gil Blue Label 2021 750ml

The oak of the 2021 Juan Gil (blue label) is subtler and feels more integrated into the wine. It's a fresher year of wines with more freshness and better balance, more elegance and length. It has 15.5% alcohol and finishes dry. 30,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2023. (Luis Gutiérrez)

An aromatic thread of toast, licorice, vanilla and Mediterranean macchia winds through generous flavors of plum sauce and blackberry paste. Full-bodied but fresh and well-structured, this red is firmed by chalky, integrated tannins that sculpt the long, lasting finish. Monastrell, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Drink now through 2031. 3,500 cases made, 1,500 cases imported. (Alison Napjus)

The oak of the 2021 Juan Gil (blue label) is subtler and feels more integrated into the wine. It's a fresher year of wines with more freshness and better balance, more elegance and length. It has 15.5% alcohol and finishes dry. 30,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2023.

Since 2022, there's also a Cuvée À with a blue label, and that wine is partly aged in amphorae, but this is the regular 2023 Blue Label, matured 100% in French and American oak barrels of different sizes—220, 300, 500 and 600 liters—but some years ago, they reduced the toast and looked for coopers who made barrels that marked the wine less. This was produced with a blend of 60% Monastrell, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Syrah aged for 18 months in barrel. It's spicy, toasty and smoky, with notes of vanilla and cinnamon, ripe berry fruit and Mediterranean herbs. It's ripe at 15% alcohol (which is slightly lower than in 2022), with a pH of 3.75, 5.7 grams of acidity and 2.7 grams of residual sugar. It's medium- to full-bodied with abundant, fine-grained tannins and abundant oak-related flavors. 25,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2025.

The 2021 Juan Gil Blue Label is a blend of 60% Monastrell, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Syrah, sourced from Jumilla. Aged for 18 months in French and American oak barrels, this purple-hued wine offers aromas of cotton candy, vanilla, smoke and candied fruits. Indulgent and intense on the palate, it features an enticing oak flavor and a clingy mouthfeel. This is a well-crafted, commercially appealing wine. (Joaquín Hidalgo)