Rioja San Vicente de la Sonsierra - Tempranillo & co. (21)

Tempranillo, Garnacha & Viura | fieldblend | 4 wijngaarden in San Vicente de la Sonsierra; 'La Canoca', 'La Cóncova', 'San Martín' & 'El Bardallo' | meer dan 500 meter hoog | volledig ontsteeld | wijngaarden zijn afzonderlijk vergist | gisting in open kuipen | rijping voor 10 maanden in 500l en 300l Frans eiken | elegant en verfijnd | floraal | diep 

José Gil

Zelden een wijnmaker ontmoet die op jonge leeftijd al zo toegewijd is aan zijn wijngaarden en zo snel naam en faam maakt binnen de wijnwereld. José Gil en zijn vrouw Vicky runnen samen 5ha aan wijngaarden in Rioja. Al hun wijngaarden zijn terug te vinden rondom het “grand cru" dorp San Vicente de la Sonsierra. Hier hebben Olivier Rivière en Abel en Maite Mendoza ook hun wijngaarden liggen. Vaak zijn de percelen niet groter dan een kwart hectare en tegen of zelfs over de 100 jaar oud. 

In 2021 roept wijnjournalist Tim Atkim MW José en Vicky uit tot "Young Winemaker of the Year” in zijn speciale Rioja Report. Ze maken wijnen op basis van single vineyards en één Vino de Pueblo (village wijn). José heeft stage gelopen in de Bourgogne en Mosel en heeft zo zijn kijk op de wijngaarden van Rioja doen veranderden. 

Review

The 2020 Viñedos en San Vicente de la Sonsierra, the village red, is quite different from the previous vintages, as it has up to 20% Garnacha—more than in the past, when it could be some 2%. They also used some 10% full clusters and uncrushed grapes for the fermentation in stainless steel and plastic bins with indigenous yeasts. The wine matured in 500-liter oak barrel for some 10 months, and the integration of oak is better than with the smaller barrels. It's more expressive, with a floral character and perfume that is very attractive, and it's balanced and fresh, clean and tasty, with a medium body and very fine tannins. There are 3,800 bottles. It was bottled in September 2021 just before the following harvest. 93/100 Luis Guriérrez 

Jose Gil is one of the leading young producers in Rioja and the whole of Spain. He comes from a family of vignerons in San Vicente de la Sonsierra. He works the vineyards and makes the wine together with his wife. They now work eight hectares of vineyards and do all the work themselves. In 2021 they have more plots, and they fermented a white (around 1,000 bottles) and will do a total of 23,000 bottles. The absolute maximum they can do would be around 50,000 or 60,000 bottles. In 2019, there was frost in the higher part of San Vicente, unusual in the sloped vineyards by the Sierra Cantabria, and it further concentrated the wines that were already powerful because of a dry and warm year. They implemented some more changes in 2020, including larger barrels and new coopers they visited in Burgundy. And the vintage in San Vicente was rainier, the weather was warm, and there was a lot of mildew. It rained during the harvest, so there are two harvests—one before and another one after. They picked all of their grapes before the storms—a total for 6,500 bottles from 2020—so they picked with more acidity and less dilution. Furthermore, his wife Vicky was 100% with him in the vineyard, and they could do a lot more work. They now have a two-month-old daughter, Maya.