La Estrecha 2021

Crítica

2020 > 95 puntos
A single-vineyard Bobal, the 2020 La Estrecha represents the elegance and finesse this vineyard on granite soils is capable of. The full clusters fermented in 4,500-liter French oak vat, and the wine matured in used 600-liter French oak barrels for 10 months. As in all old vineyards (this is 75+ years old), it's not pure Bobal, and there might be some 10% other varieties intermixed in the field that are all picked and fermented together. It's 13% alcohol and has a pH of 3.6. It has a fruit-driven nose with juiciness and notes of strawberry, and it's round and tasty, without the depth of the 2019 I tasted next to it. There's a little more rusticity here. Time will tell, but today I prefer the 2019 to this. 4,000 bottles were filled in July 2021.
2019 > 96 puntos
They have fermented their wines in a new winery since 2017, and they feel that added precision to the wines but feel the 2019 La Estrecha takes the character of the vineyard they want to showcase even further. It's mostly Bobal with some 5% other grapes found in the field blend of 75+-year-old vines on granite soils, and it fermented with 100% full clusters in 4,500-liter oak vats and matured in used 600-liter barrels for 10 months. This is a bright ruby color and has a floral and expressive nose, elegant and harmonious. The palate is medium-bodied, with very fine, chalky tannins, beautifully textured with a mineral sensation. 3,200 bottles were filled unfiltered, unfined and without cold stabilization in July 2020.
2018 > 96 puntos
The single-vineyard 2018 La Estrecha comes from a plot on granite soils that was planted mostly with Bobal but also with some 5% other grapes from Manchuela, the way vineyards were traditionally planted in the past. The objective here is to show finesse, and they achieved it through moderate alcohol (12.5%) and good freshness following the usual modus operandi: native fermentation of the full clusters in 4,500-liter oak vats and 11 months in 600-liter French barrels. This is always a more elegant expression of Bobal, while, for example, the Pino has more concentration and power. The color is a light ruby, and the nose is an explosion of flowers and aromatic herbs, mixing Mediterranean and continental characteristics, somehow balsamic but also flinty/stony. This is a little more reductive, and the wine might welcome an energetic decanting if you open it soon (this seems to happen more on the wines from granite soils). The palate has great balance, with lots of energy and inner power, linear and long, with almost citrus freshness and a dry, stony/mineral finish. This should develop nicely for a long time in bottle. The great vintages tend to be more austere early on. 2,500 bottles were filled in August 2019.