Barranco del San Ginés 2015

The 2015 Barranco del San Ginésis a new single-vineyard, top-of-the-range red from an east-facing plot of 1.18 hectares of head-pruned Tempranillo vines planted in Laguardia in 1935 at 570 meters altitude. It is registered as "viñedo singular," the new official category for single-vineyard wines. There is no room to get any machines into the vineyard, which has to be worked 100% by hand and follows organic principles but without certification. They were able to purchase this terraced vineyard in 2015. It fermented in concrete vats with wild yeasts and matured in oak foudres for 24 months. It's a little darker and riper with the concentration of the old vines, but it's produced more or less the same as the rest of the wines, so the difference is provided by the vineyard. It has forest aromas and flavors, not that common in Rioja wines, mixing Mediterranean with cooler Atlantic characteristics. The palate has abundant, fine-grained but firm tannins and is nicely balanced. It's a powerful yet elegant Rioja Alavesa, with the character of the soils. 1,500 bottles produced. It was bottled in December 2017. From 2017 onward, they will be able to put Viñedo Singular and the name of the village, Laguardia, on the label. - Luis Gutiérrez.