Description
92 Points | The Wine Advocate, Luis Gutiérrez
I'm glad Artadi had resumed production of their white wine and I could taste the 2013 Viñas de Gaín Blanco. Of course, 2013 was a wetter, cooler and certainly more challenging year, with a late harvest of a short crop. The grapes come from multiple vineyards in the villages of Laguardia and Elvillar, partly fermented in oak and aged in contact with the lees in stainless steel for 15 months. It has a honeyed and perfumed nose with notes of chamomile, dried flowers, straw, white pepper, citrus and some yeasty, cereal-like notes. The palate is serious and a little strict, with marked acidity, good weight and even some fine tannins. This is certainly drinkable now, but the Viura grape is one that develops for a long time in bottle, even more so in a fresh year like this. The question is whether you like it fresher or with more bottle age. 4,000 bottles produced.
This was my first visit to Artadi since they left the Rioja appellation of origin. The wines are bottled as Vino de España, even though all their grapes grow within the Rioja limits. They work 80 hectares of vineyards mainly in their village, Laguardia, and neighboring Elvillar. They age their wines in some 800 barrels and each vintage gives them some 400,000 bottles to sell.