La Poza de Ballesteros 2012 75cl

This is so mouthfilling with round and velvety tannins. Full and so fruity yet fresh and bright. The texture is so beautiful. Drink or hold.

Inky ruby. Explosive cherry compote, cassis, licorice and floral oil scents are complemented by of spicecake and cola. Sweet, concentrated and broad on the palate, offering intense dark berry liqueur and violet pastille flavors enlivened by a peppery, spicy element and a jolt of smoky minerals. Combines richness and vivacity smoothly and finishes sappy and extremely long, with repeating spiciness and smooth, slow-building tannins.

The 2012 La Poza de Ballesteros comes from a plot opposite Valdeginés where the soils are a little deeper and are quite similar to Valdeginés. However, the wines are very different, and the main difference here is the exposition. This wine has a different style of maturity, more Mediterranean, mixing aromas of plums and aromatic herbs and a voluptuous palate. It is a ripe and showy wine with good complexity and depth, notes of black tea, tobacco, balsamic, and all of it well married with those ripe plums. Within its ripeness and forward character it remains quite balanced; you won't find any excess in the bottle. Again it shows the harmony I see in all the 2012s. Again, this is approachable from now, juicy, ripe and hedonistic. 6,000 bottles produced.<br/><br/>2012 seems to be e very good vintage for Artadi, ripe and powerful, but with very well-integrated oak, serious wines. For the three wineries they have (Artadi in Rioja, Artazu in Navarra and El Sequé in Alicante), proprietor Juan Carlos López de Lacalle wants to simplify the range of wines, first an entry-level line of local varietal wines, Tempranillo, Garnacha and Monastrell, (Tempranillo by Artadi). The second line is village wines (so Viñas de Gaín will disappear as a brand and will be turned into Viñas de Laguadia, Viñas de Leza and Viñas de Elvillar in future vintages, and Pagos Viejos will be turned into a special collector's items) and then single-vineyard wines. In Alicante and Navarra they don't have single-vineyard wines for now, while for Artadi they will continue with the four they offer now. This change will be for the 2014 harvest. Tasting them slowly I came to the conclusion that, following the Burgundian model, the hierarchy of the single vineyards is as follows: El Pisón and El Carretil would be the Grand Crus and Valdeginés and La Poza de Ballesteros would be the 1er Crus. And the big news is, of course, that they are leaving the Rioja appellation before the end of 2015!

Floral and mineral notes frame ripe blackberry and currant flavors in this bold, modern red. Firm tannins give this backbone, balancing the racy edge of acidity, which yields to a spicy, mineral-tinged finish. Not quite harmonious now, but expressive and complex. Best from 2016 through 2024. 34 cases imported. –TM <br/>