2019 El Carretil
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Tasting notes
A complete, fresh and complex Artadi single-plot wine with lovely subtlety. Spanish cigars, mineral, cocoa powder, some fine herbs, mussels and spices, with a background of fresh yet ripe, concentrated fruit showing crushed blackberries and blueberries. Tight, powerful but still dynamic and silky, with a mineral tinge to the supple fruit core in the middle. Not trying too hard. Impeccable balance with finesse! Tempranillo. From organically grown grapes. Already drinkable now, but better hold for a few years. Best from 2025.
Critic scores
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James Suckling
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
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The 2019 El Carretil was produced with Tempranillo from a plot of 3.64 hectares planted in the village of Laguardia at three different times—1930, 1975 and 1988—on limestone, sandstone and silt soils with up to 18% active limestone. It fermented in open-top oak vats and went through malolactic fermentation in barrel, where it was kept for nine months. It's mineral, it has energy and tension, it's not heavy, and it has freshness and acidity. It's serious and has very fine, abundant tannins and great balance that should make it age nicely in bottle. 5,000 bottles were filled in June 2021.
About the producer
Owner and winemaker Juan Carlos López de Lacalle is among an elite group of global vintners whose expertise creates wines that stand above others in their regions. Artadi produces refined Rioja in unoaked and oaked styles, including superb Reservas and single-vineyard wines such as Viña El Pisón.