Castillo Labastida Manuel Quintano
2020 Los Herreros Rioja Alavesa

The Los Herreros vineyard is high up in Rioja, located just outside the remote village of Quel. The vineyard is an amalgam of sand, silt and micro-layers of clay, located right next door to the El Arca Vineyard, itself a $125/bottle old-vine Garnacha. This is highly-pedigreed soil. This pinnacle expressions is not inexpensive (this would normally be selling for well over $150/bottle in US); however, it's fantastic, and through us, quite reasonably priced.

Still a baby, this one benefits from a bit of air today (cellaring down is the recommendation here for the best in the future) showing pungent oak and monolithic fruit. The complexity emerges on the open palate bringing in black peppercorns and piquant red fruits surrounded by new leather against deftly interwoven acidity. The finish is still emerging, but not without great length and depth, with the best still yet to come