Description
91-92 Points | The Wine Advocate, Luis Gutiérrez
The 2019 La Poza de Ballesteros is a powerful and ripe wine with 14.66% alcohol and ripe fruit, volume and round and dense tannins. It's from a 1.18-hectare plot of vines planted in 1960 on deep brown soils, and the exposition to the afternoon sun and the deeper soils give the grapes more ripeness—and this wine is always a riper expression of Tempranillo. It has notes of black fruit and tobacco, and it's round and generous, more voluptuous, with round tannins and instant gratification. It's expressive and direct, quite gentle. 4,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2021.
I tasted the wines from Artadi as part of their annual portfolio tasting when I covered the bottled 2019s and barrel samples of (some of) the 2020s. I've reproduced the notes and comments here for context and completeness of the article.
2019 was slightly drier and warmer than average, and there was an episode of hail as late as August 25th, which seriously affected the vineyards located in the south of Laguardia and Elvillar; the plots of San Ginés, Valmayor, Cuerdamayor, La Ceposilla, Parredonda and Las Ventas, among others, registered significant damage. They started picking the whites on September 20 and finished the last of the reds on October 10. The grapes were clean and healthy, with 35% less grapes than in 2018.
2020 was a challenging year with a loss of 30% of the crops from mildew. All of their vineyards are now certified organic, and they suffered more because of that. It's a relatively fresh vintage, cooler than 2019 but without its complexity, with more ethereal, approachable and fruit-driven wines with red rather than black fruit. Carlos de la Calle compared 2020 to 2007, a subtle and fruit-driven vintage. 2021 goes back to the fresher and more energetic style of 2018.