Clint Hillery

Head sommelier, Mercado, Sydney

What wine sums up Rioja in a bottle? The 2014 Palacios Remondo La Montesa is a garnacha-dominant red by Alvaro Palacios. Garnacha (grenache) is leading the way in modern Rioja among the sea of tempranillo. La Montesa is fresh and refined.

What Rioja wine should you buy and cellar? Roda is a must-try and the Cirsion is a modern marvel of Rioja winemaking. It’s bold and brash, showing lots of new French oak, lashings of dark fruit and an abundance of spices. You could lie it down for 20-plus years.

And what’s good to drink right now? Rosé is big in Australia at the moment and Spain has a few delicious examples. One style from Rioja is clarete, which is made when a red and a white grape variety are co-fermented. My favourite is Alegre y Valgañon.

You’ve got $20 to spend. What wine would you buy? Faustino is a large producer of great-value wines and I’ve always liked the Faustino VII. It’s a light, crunchy red, with loads of strawberry and cherry traits, that just loves antipasto or pizza.

And if money were no object? The 1949 Viña Real Reserva Especial, which I tried recently. It still showed red fruits and great complexity – an amazing example of the ageing potential of these wines.