2016 La Poza de Ballesteros
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Tasting notes
A savory Rioja red, the 2016 La Poza de Ballesteros is a pure Tempranillo sourced from a vineyard planted in 1960 in Elvillar de Álava, Rioja Alavesa. This ripe, plummy wine offers notes of wild herbs and bay leaf. Dry and fairly rich with reactive tannins, the taut palate lingers long with crystal-clear fruits.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
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The purity of fruit in this is amazing with crushed berries, violets and slate. Full body. Powerful and very structured. The length and power are so impressive. The depth is great all round. Goes on for minutes. Better in 2022.
The 2016 La Poza de Ballesteros is named after a vineyard in the village of Elvillar that produces round and fruit-driven wines. It has deep soils rich in clay and tends to produce fruit-driven wines. This year it feels more defined and with better depth, but it's always a wine built around the fruit and lacks the chalky texture I associate with limestone-rich soils. It's round, juicy and pleasant but without the minerality of the majority of bottlings. 4,000 bottles produced.
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.