La Hormiga de Antídoto 2021

Crítica

2021 > 93 puntos
The 2021 La Hormiga was produced with grapes from the villages of Quintanilla de Tres Barrios, Matanza de Soria and Villálvaro where the clay in the soil produces powerful, voluptuous and creamy wines. It fermented in stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeasts and matured for 10 months in French oak barriques, 25% of them new, create a "reserva" style red. It has 14.9% alcohol, mellow acidity and 3.6 grams of unfermented sugar. They have lowered the amount of new oak, and the wine shows a lot more integration and freshness and more purity. The wine is gentle, balanced and elegant within the inherent power of the zone. One of the finest vintages of this cuvée to date. 51,000 bottles and 1,050 magnums produced. It was bottled in November 2022. 2020 > 92 puntos
The 2020 La Hormiga is from an unusual and exceptional year that produced some wines with a lot less alcohol, yet this is still 14.48%. From old vines planted on red soils at 950 meters in altitude, the grapes were harvested between the 1st and 9th of October, and the wine matured in 54% new French barriques for 12 months. The wine is marked by the élevage in barrels and shows abundant smoky, spicy and toasty notes; after this vintage, they realized they needed to lower the amount of new barrels in this wine. The wine is powerful and concentrated and reveals abundant tannins that make it a bit hard. Give it some more time in bottle. 31,200 bottles and 525 magnums produced. It was bottled in March 2022.
2019 > 92 puntos
The 2019 La Hormiga comes from an old organically farmed (but not certified) vineyard planted in 1922 in Quintanilla de Tres Barrios in the north part of the Soria province, on red clay and limestone soils that deliver voluptuous and creamy wines. It fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in 225-liter French oak barrels, 30% of them new, for 16 months. This is ripe and generous, a powerful Ribera del Duero with integrated oak, a little smokier than the regular Antídoto from the same vintage. There is a lactic touch and some creaminess. It has a striking chalky sensation on the palate from the red limestone soils. 25,000 bottles, 1,050 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in May 2021.