2017 Yjar

The new top-of-the-range is the 2017 Yjar, a difficult name in most languages, selected because the property used to be managed by the Duque de H�jar�this is just a different spelling. It's a red produced with Tempranillo and a significant amount of Garnacha grapes from selected soils from Remelluri. It's a wine that transcends the vintage, with spicy notes, a complex and changing nose, really harmonious, serious, with super sleek tannins, seamless with a polished mouthfeel with a chalky finish. This is a separate project and with a different style from Remelluri (closer, perhaps, to the style of the personal wines from Telmo Rodr�guez. It's a wine that will be sold through the Place de Bordeaux, the result of their understanding of the soils from the property, something they knew empirically but for which they now have a more scientific explanation. It feels younger and less developed than the classical wines from Remelluri. It matured mostly in foudre, and there is no trace of oak; the wine feels very young, clean and modern. It's a great effort for a challenging year. It should develop nicely in bottle. 7,000 bottles produced.

The talented Telmo Rodriguez is launching this wine onto the Place with its first vintage for the entirety of its production. The grapes are from a 3.8ha limestone-dominant plot within the family's Remelluri estate, found in the foothills of the Sierra de Tolono mountains. A sweet and smoky attack, with a ton of flavours and fragrant aromatics that grab hold and hang on, from dense liqourice root to crushed stones to blueberry, redcurrant, rose petals and tobacco, nothing too much or too overwhelming, but you also feel the herb-strewn call of the vineyard and you want to be there, among the vines where this is made. Get hold of it now, enjoy the brilliance of Telmo Rodriguez and the sense of place that he can bring to a wine. A field blend, as with the brilliant Remelluri Blanc, with just over 7,000 bottles in this inaugural vintage. An outstanding first outing that you should be following - believe me, this is a cult wine in the making.