Description
95-96 Points | The Wine Advocate, Luis Gutiérrez
The bottled 2019 San Lázaro delivered what the sample promised back in January. It comes from one of my favorite vineyards, a 1.62-hectare plot in Laguardia just below Bodegas Palacio that was planted in 1956 on limestone and sand soils that produce elegant wines. In the past, the vineyard contributed to the Pagos Viejos blend that has been bottled separately since 2016 and has quickly taken a leading position in the Artadi hierarchy. The wine is complex and nuanced, serious and insinuating, with fine aromas of herbs and flowers and a lively and balanced palate with ultra fine, abundant and chalky tannins. Superb! 2,000 bottles were filled 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.