Wine Enthusiast Scores: Two wines from Bodegas Luzón that once again put Monastrell in the spotlight

Some ratings are met with a smile, while others make us truly proud. The new ratings from Wine Enthusiast for two of our wines clearly fall into the second category: Luzón Colección Monastrell 2025 earned 92 points and the “Best Buy” designation, while Altos de Luzón 2024 received 91 points.

Two wines, two different profiles, and the same variety taking center stage: Monastrell, a grape deeply rooted in Jumilla and in the identity of Bodegas Luzón.

And when these scores come from an international publication like Wine Enthusiast, it’s worth taking a moment to understand what they really mean.

What do Wine Enthusiast’s ratings mean?

For those who aren’t familiar with Wine Enthusiast’s rating system, it is one of the best-known international benchmarks in the world of wine. Its scoring system uses a 100-point scale and classifies wines into different categories based on their scores.

According to the publication itself, wines that score between 90 and 93 points are rated “Excellent,” a category that Wine Enthusiast defines as highly recommended wines. Above that are the “Superb” category, for scores of 94 to 97 points, and the “Classic” category, for scores of 98 to 100.

There is another particularly interesting detail about their methodology: the tastings for the Buying Guide are conducted blind. The tasters are provided with general information about the sample, such as the grape variety, vintage, or appellation, but they do not know the producer or the specific price of the wine they are tasting.

That’s why receiving 92 Wine Enthusiast points or 91 Wine Enthusiast points means being part of an evaluation conducted within a professional, comparative tasting system.

In our case, there’s also some great news: Luzón Colección Monastrell 2025 has been recognized as a Best Buy.

Luzón Monastrell Collection 2025: 92 points and Best Buy

The first of the featured wines is Luzón Colección Monastrell 2025, a young red wine made from 100% Monastrell and sourced from various vineyards where factors such as altitude and soil type play an important role in its character.

Its production begins with a manual harvest into 150-kilo crates. The grapes are then stored in a cold room for 48 hours at 8 °C and sorted on a sorting table before alcoholic fermentation begins, which lasts between 8 and 10 days, without exceeding 26 °C and while maintaining contact with the skins.

The result? A young Monastrell with an intense purple color, featuring a nose dominated by red fruits—including cherries, strawberries, and black plums—accompanied by spicy notes. On the palate, it’s a juicy, fresh wine with an enveloping body and a long, vibrant finish.

And here’s the score we’re particularly excited about: 92 points from Wine Enthusiast.

But that’s not all. The 2025 vintage of Luzón Colección Monastrell has also received the “Best Buy” designation, a category established by Wine Enthusiast for wines that offer exceptional value for the price. The publication explains that this distinction is awarded to wines that exceed a certain threshold for value and that generally fall within a specific price range.

To put it much more simply: it’s one of those labels that remind us that enjoying a good wine doesn’t have to turn into a math problem just to make ends meet.

Altos de Luzón 2024: 91 points for a Monastrell with extended aging

The second award goes to Altos de Luzón 2024, which received 91 points from Wine Enthusiast.

This is a wine with a different profile. Also made from 100% Monastrell, it comes from vineyards located in the Jumilla area, where the altitude and climatic conditions have a decisive influence on the ripening of the grapes.

Altos de Luzón is an aged red wine, designed to showcase a more complex and structured expression of the Monastrell grape. The winemaking process begins with a hand-harvest in small crates, followed by cooling, selection of the best grapes, and controlled fermentation. After fermentation, the wine remains in contact with the skins for a period of 10 to 15 days.

Next comes a fundamental part of its character: 12 months of aging in American and French oak barrels.

In the glass, it displays a deep red color with ruby highlights. The aromatic profile combines red and black fruits with sweet spices and subtle smoky notes from the aging process. On the palate, it offers freshness, fruit, body, and fine tannins, with a persistent finish that adds complexity.

Wine Enthusiast’s 91-point rating places Altos de Luzón 2024 in the publication’s “Excellent” category.

Two wines, the same grape variety

Beyond the numbers, these Wine Enthusiast scores allow us to focus on something that is central to our understanding of wine: the ability of a single grape variety to express itself in very different ways.

Monastrell can be youthful, fresh, juicy, and straightforward, as is the case with Luzón Colección Monastrell 2025, or it can develop greater structure, depth, and complexity through aging, as seen in Altos de Luzón 2024.

These are two different interpretations of a grape variety for which Jumilla is one of the premier growing regions.

For us, these scores are also a recognition of the work that begins long before the wine reaches the glass. It starts in the vineyard, continues during the harvest and grape selection, and carries on inside the winery, where every decision ultimately leaves its mark on the wine.

92 points and Best Buy for Luzón Colección Monastrell 2025. 91 points for Altos de Luzón 2024.

Two good reasons to toast Jumilla’s Monastrell and, above all, to keep working with a variety that still has a lot to offer.