El Esquilón 2016

I tasted two vintages of the first single-vineyard red, as the 2016 El Esquilón was not ready the last time I tasted their range. 2016 was a warm year, but the 2016 wines are fresh because they harvested very early. This pure Listán Negro (from a centenary vineyard that gives the wine its name) fermented in concrete vats with 100% full clusters and indigenous yeasts and was foot trodden during alcoholic fermentation. It matured in used 500-liter oak barrels for 11 months. This is sharper and austere but more polished by one more year in bottle, perhaps a different profile that I like very much, sharper and with a touch of volatility that gives it freshness. This has to be one of the best value wines from the winery, especially in this cool vintage. It was interesting to compare it with the 2017. 4,000 bottles were filled in October 2017.

A wine of stunning originality, this is the most concentrated and refined 2016 reds from this producer, but it is still very young and the dry tannins are still quite challenging. Patience will be rewarded by a cascade of subtle sour-cherry, earth and herbal aromas. Better from 2019 and probably decades of aging potential.