Rioja Seleccion Personal - Tempranillo (20)

Tempranillo | Abel's allerbeste selectie | wisselt jaarlijks van wijngaard maar is nu 'Marrate - El Bardallo' in Labastida | whole bunch vergist in staaltank | malo in beton | rijping voor 12 maanden in Frans eikenhout (50% nieuw) | serieus | vulling | rijk en elegant | zacht rood fruit | fluweel | iets floraal | smooth | fijne ondersteuning van het hout

Abel&Maite Mendoza

Een stel echt pioniers in het Rioja gebied, zijn Abel en Maite. Al 25 jaar verbouwen zij biodynamische druiven in verschillende regio’s van de Rioja, op 22 verschillende percelen. Zij hebben ervoor gekozen om alle kleine percelen apart te laten vergisten om zo een soort ‘Bourgogne systeem’ te introduceren, alleen is dit vrij lastig gebleken. In de kelder wordt er traditioneel gewerkt en levert wijnen op die altijd hoge scores krijgen. Het is niet voor niets dat ze altijd bij de 15 beste producenten van de regio zitten!

Review

The 2020 Selección Personal could come from a different vineyard each year, but in the last few years, it has always been produced from a place called Marrate-El Bardallo in Labastida, one of Mendoza's favorite places for high-end wines. The uncrushed grapes fermented with indigenous yeasts from a pied de cuve in stainless steel, followed by malolactic in concrete and aging in French oak barrels for one year. It's a serious and elegant Tempranillo with a textured palate and very fine and chalky tannins. It has contained ripeness and nice balance. 2020 was a more austere and less aromatic vintage for this wine. 5,154 bottles were filled in May 2022. 94/100 Luis Gutiérrez

Vigneron Abel Mendoza and his wife Maite Fernández described quite well what is happening with climate: "In recent years, we've experienced very irregular and changing weather, excess heat, episodes of drought and high temperatures, a very unequal distribution of rain and untimely incidents such as hail, frost or torrential rains. They are increasingly complicated vintages to which we will have to adapt since climate change is here to stay." Enough said. 

They handcraft 80,000 bottles from their winery in San Vicente de la Sonsierra from the 25 hectares of vines, worked by hand without herbicides or pesticides, spread in 39 separate plots and averaging 38 years of age.