The 2019 Barranco del Prado, one of two single-vineyard bottlings, has a gorgeous nose that's an explosion of wild flowers, acid berries and wild herbs. It comes from an ungrafted plot at 800 meters in altitude that was planted 120 years ago mostly with Garnacha and perhaps 2% white Calagraño and 1% Tinta Velasco. The wine feels fresh and very harmonious and has 15% alcohol and integrated acidity that makes it long and focused, with a lifted, high-pitched finish that is most impressive. It matured in well-seasoned, neutral French oak barrels for 18 moths. Truly delicious. Only 966 bottles were filled in March 2021.
Javier Arizcuren comes from a family background of winemaking in the Rioja Oriental town of Quel. He is a professional architect whose projects include the Marqués de Terán and Finca Los Arandinos wineries and, recently, the restoration of the huge underground sixteenth-century cellars and nineteenth-century buildings of the Conde de los Andes winery in Ollauri.
After studying wine growing and oenology at the University of La Rioja and travelling to different Spanish and...
