2018 La Poza de Ballesteros
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Tasting notes
I had not tasted the unbottled 2018 La Poza de Ballesteros, so I tasted it from bottle. The vineyard is 1.18 hectares that were planted in 1960 on brown clay and silt soils that are quite deep. It matured in barrique for nine months. This is particularly fine and elegant in 2018, it has contained ripeness, there is no excess ripeness or heat and it's cool and balanced. It has the roundness of the place and the edge of the vintage, coming through as elegant and balanced like I have never seen before in this wine. It's fresh, even minty; perhaps it doesn't have the depth and definition as the others where the finesse comes naturally, but this has to be the finest Poza I have tried. 3,000 bottles were filled in June 2020.
Critic scores
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
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.