Valdegines 2013 75cl

The valley of Ginés names the 2013 Valdeginés, a single plot of Tempranillo vines from a cold terroir (the sun leaves at mid-day) in a cold vintage. This is an austere red, serious, quite different from previous vintages. There was some 630 liters of rain in the growing season and the vintage was challenging, but has often resulted in less ripe wines with more freshness. The tannins are a little more severe than the 2014, a wine that should age nicely in bottle, with the freshness of the cold years. Spicy, cold, austere and long. The wood is remarkably well integrated. This is a very good showing for Valdeginés; it really impressed me. 10,000 bottles.<br/><br/>Artadi has left the Rioja appellation. That's big news. For now, the idea to bottle village wines from the 2014 vintage onward has been put on hold, as the names of the villages are 'owned' by the appellation. But they have discontinued Pagos Viejos, with most of those grapes going to the 2014 Viñas de Gaín; and they will bottle between 1,000 and 2,000 bottles of a different 'Pagos Viejos' to sell exclusively at the winery for the people who visit them to have access to something exclusive. They will also have a small amount of white under the name Pagos Viejos using the white grapes found intermixed in the old vineyards. They also intend to produce a new single vineyard plot (Ribaltallo), situated on very sandy and stony soils above Contino that Juan Carlos López de Lacalle planted some ten years ago, and there is also a small parcel of old vines. At the time of my tasting the 2014s had no labels, but they will most likely say only Álava-Spain. The 2013s are still under the Rioja appellation. The 2014s were in tank ready to be bottled (the bottling was delayed because they found a problem with some corks), with the sulfur adjusted and everything else ready. Even though I don't like unbottled samples, as I often find oxidative aromas, I decided to taste them because the next article on Rioja will be in some 16 months' time when I should retaste them bottled and with some bottle age together with the 2015s. On a completely different note, they have recently purchased an important wine importing and distribution business that brings to Spain wines from many of the members of L’Académie Internationale du Vin, of which López de Lacalle is a member himself; and they have also started selling direct to final customers under the name Abó & Lacalle. At the same time, they have created their own importing company in the US, Artadi USA Importers. Lots of changes for Artadi.