El Carretil 2022

A Tempranillo built on restraint: less oak, less ripeness, but more finesse and precision. The nose is still austere today, marked by cool minerality, with smoky and balsamic notes as well as blue and red fruit in the background. Unadorned, compelling, full of personality.

The single vineyard El Carretil lies in the municipality of Laguardia in Rioja Alavesa: 3.5 hectares, south-facing, at around 500 metres altitude. The soil is heavily calcareous, with a high proportion of calcium carbonate. The Sierra Cantabria shelters the vineyards, keeping the nights cool.

100% Tempranillo from vines aged between 37 and 95 years. Juan Carlos López de Lacalle works without herbicides or synthetic chemicals, with part of the soil worked using a horse. The grapes are destemmed and fermented spontaneously, with gentle extraction in open fermentation vessels. Ageing increasingly takes place in used and larger oak barrels, giving the wine clarity and an unadorned elegance.

Silky and juicy, with exceptionally fine tannins and a slightly smoky minerality. Combined with a taut grip that makes the wine positively crisp. The finely spiced finish is superlong and balanced.

With braised lamb shoulder, rosé-cooked beef fillet or sautéed wild mushrooms with herbs.

In late 2015, Artadi left the DOCa Rioja because its regulations did not even allow the naming of individual vineyards on the back label. Since then, the wines have carried the name of their plot rather than that of an ageing category. El Carretil is one of nine single vineyards cultivated by Juan Carlos López de Lacalle together with his children Carlos and Patricia; vinification continues to take place in Laguardia.