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94pts Vinous
The 2022 Pago de Carraovejas blends Tempranillo with 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Merlot. In recent vintages, the contributions of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot have gradually decreased to emphasize Tempranillo. The wine was aged for one year in oak barrels. It displays precise fruit expression, delicate violet hint and subtle herbal touch. Juicy, structured and dense without excessive tannin tightness, this is a well-crafted Ribera offering depth and tension. Drinking Window: 2025 - 2040

- By Joaquín Hidalgo on June 2025

After decades as a leading restaurateur in Segovia, José María Ruiz launched Pago de Carraovejas in Peñafiel in 1987. His son, Pedro Ruiz, now leads the operation as part of the larger Alma Carraovejas group (with additional wineries in Nieva, Galicia and Gredos). The estate features its own restaurant and various amenities for visitors. Winemaking is overseen by Almudena Calvo, who has modernized the house style, moving away from the ripe, structured reds of the past to a more balanced, fruit-forward expression by the 2020-2022 vintages. This shift is most evident in the main Pago de Carraovejas red, though the parcel bottlings—Anejón and Cuesta Las Liebres—maintain a more traditional structure.

92pts Wine Advocate
The 2022 Pago de Carraovejas wants to be the expression of the valley that names the wine. It was produced with 93% Tempranillo, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Merlot in a very warm and dry and challenging year when the wine achieved a whopping 15.5% alcohol after spending 12 months in 226- and 600-liter French and American oak barrels. It's dark, aromatic and heady, juicy and a little decadent, with ripe flavors and fine tannins, clearly reflecting the conditions of the year. 700,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in the spring of 2024.

Pago de Carraovejas, the main and original wine project from the Ruiz Aragoneses family from Segovia, is more and more aware of the need to protect the environment, and they have started a number of initiatives to do so, trying to be more sustainable. They keep their 160 hectares of vineyards and a production of 800,000 bottles. 2022 was very challenging, and 2023 was more balanced.

92pts Stu Piggot
A concentrated, dense Ribera del Duero, but there is a lot to like if you enjoy plushness, with its lush blackberry fruit and dark chocolate. Fine-grained and full-bodied on the palate, but fresh and still pretty tense, with chalky tannins. Drink from 2025.

Pago de Carraovejas is one of the most sought-after wines produced in Spain, but not near as well known in the US. The main reason is that most of it is snatched up by thirsty Spaniards before it has the chance to leave the country. Established by Segovian restauranteur and sommelier Jose Maria Ruiz, it has become one of the crown jewels of Ribera del Duero wines. 

• Varieties: Tinto Fino (92%), Cabernet Sauvignon (5%) and Merlot (3%).
• Alcohol by volume: 15%.
• Soils: limestone texture with red clays and white loams. Low granulometry and high water retention.
• Altitude: 850 meters
• Harvest: manual, in 15 kg boxes.

Producer: Pago de Carraovejas
Country: Spain
Region: Castilla y León
Varietal: Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
Appellation: Ribera del Duero
Vintage: 2020

Starting with the 2015 vintage they discontinued making 2 different wines (crianza and reserva) and will instead just focus on the one wine (and a couple of their already existing higher end single vineyard wines).