Wine Advisor
Artadi, Vina El Pison 2023
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
The unbottled sample of the 2023 Viña El Pisón was still completing the second winter of its élevage, now in oak foudre after it spent the first winter in 500- and 600-liter barrels. It looks unusually dark, the darkest of the 2022s and 2023s. It was harvested earlier to keep the spark and finished with 14.35% and a finer-boned palate. The nose has the sensation of riper fruit, even some darkness, a constant in most 2023s, but then the palate has the crunchiness and the vibrant feeling of 2023. There should be some 6,000 bottles produced. It should be bottled in May or June 2025.
About the Producer
Artadi is a well-regarded, high-profile wine producer based in the Rioja Alavesa town of Laguardia although famously having left the local Rioja wine body, it produces wines under the Vino de Mesa title. It makes a range of Rioja-style wines albeit with a subregional focus and is perhaps best-known for its single vineyard labels, all made from Tempranillo. The single vineyard labels include El Carretil, La Poza de Ballesteros, Quintanilla, San Lazaro and Valdeginés, as well as the flagship El Pison. The 2004 vintage of El Pison wine received 100 points from American wine critic Robert Parker. Other notable wines include the Pagos Viejos cuvée, the value-level Viñas de Gain and the entry-level Artadi Joven, produced from carbonically macerated Tempranillo and Viura. Artadi also makes a white Viñas de Gain from 100 percent Viura aged in oak as well as a sparkling Cava, also from local Viura. López de Lacalle's wines are fruit-driven and characterized by smooth tannins, showing an emphasis on individual vineyard sites more than aging styles. He also owns the El Sequé estate in Alicante, which makes wine from the Monastrell variety, and Artazu in Navarra, which focuses on the Garnacha grape.
