A flagship for quality in the Rioja area (although it left the Rioja appellation in 2015), Artadi is one of the key wineries to understand the huge transformation Spanish winemaking has undertaken. Their pioneering project gives utmost importance to the age of the vines and the terroir, moves on from traditional crianza indicators, and produces wines plot by plot. The result — a catalogue of top quality wines affordable for all wine-lovers. Without doubt, this is an essential winery in the history of Spanish wine.
A clear example of this is the Artadi La Poza de Ballesteros wine, one of the best parcel wines (made from unique plots) from Juan Carlos López de Lacalle's winery. It is made with carefully selected Tempranillo grapes from the La Poza de Ballesteros vineyard located on a gentle hillside of poor, deep and compact soils, grown using environmentally-friendly organic agriculture methods. Twelve months ageing in new French oak barrels results in an enveloping red wine which, as the Artadi winemakers say, offers us the rough expressiveness which characterizes wines from this plot. A wine with volume and clear tones of very ripe and seasoned fruit, it delights the drinker with wide, round and dense tannins and elaborate and mature retronasal aromas and aftertaste.
Ratings and awards
2023
94-95 PK
2022
94+ PK
2021
94 PK
2020
93+ PK
2019
93 PK
95 PN
97 SK
2018
94 PK
96 PN
96 SK
PK: ParkerPN: PeñínSK: Suckling
Wine critics reviewsReviews by Parker and Parker
There is a note of fennel in the 2021 La Poza de Ballesteros, a wine that is more open, approachable and round, with a gentler palate. It feels comfortable and velvety. This is the opposite slope to Valdeginés, a soil with more sand. 4,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2023.
The 2019 La Poza de Ballesteros is a powerful and ripe wine with 14.66% alcohol and ripe fruit, volume and round and dense tannins. It's from a 1.18-hectare plot of vines planted in 1960 on deep brown soils, and the exposition to the afternoon sun and the deeper soils give the grapes more ripeness—and this wine is always a riper expression of Tempranillo. It has notes of black fruit and tobacco, and it's round and generous, more voluptuous, with round tannins and instant gratification. It's expressive and direct, quite gentle. 4,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2021.
Like every Arcadi red I've tasted it had a wonderful freshness and optimum acidity, combined with a powerful somewhat fleshy mouthfeel with a beautiful creamy and spicy finish.
by: Eva (10/01/2017) - Vintage 2014
0
Con carácter
Ningún vino de Artadi me ha defraudado nunca y recomendaría siempre beberlo con años de botella, son vinos que hay que guardar en la bodega de casa durante años para disfrutarlos como merecen. No es fácil, pero si no los compra uno con tiempo, los precios van subiendo, lo mejor es comprarlos a la avanzada y guardarlos. ¿Cuál es mejor o cómo es La Poza respecto de los otros parcelarios? Difícil decirlo. Quizá La Poza es el más distinto si lo comparamos con el Valdeginés o el Carretil pero los desconozco todavía bastante, he probado sólo algunos y cada añada me ha mostrado algo distinto, ¡algo que para mí es una de sus mejores virtudes! La Poza, quizá lo definiría como más mediterráneo y los otros dos más minerales; pero la añada es tan crucial siempre... Cada uno tiene su carácter, es más un tema de precio elegir cuál.
by: Miguel Gimeno (12/12/2020) - Vintage 2017
0
Duro
Otro Rioja clásico de la familia muy querida Artadi. Un vino complejo con grandes expectativas inicialmente al abrirlo diluyéndoselos un poco en copa. Todos los típicos aromas y bien estructurado pero no llega a su vino especial El Pison. Difícil de predecir si en el futuro mejorara pero no es extraordinario. El problema con las estrellas es diferenciar un cinco estrellas com el Pison o este que esta por debajo pero no cuatro.
by: Jose (07/01/2020) - Vintage 2015
0
Un trabajo excepcional
Un vino bien trabajado y, sin perder la esencia de la región, muy amable al paladar. Se trata de un Rioja muy bien elaborado y que proporciona una gran experiencia. Aunque no suelo consumir vinos de la Rioja, por una cuestión de preferencias, puedo decir que la Poza de Artadi se ha convertido en una excepción.
by: J. M. Sastre (10/07/2019) - Vintage 2014
0
Clásico y moderno Rioja
Sin perder la contundencia de un Rioja, color violeta, aromas muy frutales. En boca, se notan taninos amplios, gran sensación de volumen, maduro, redondo y recuerdos de fruta bien madura.
Winemaking
Ageing period
14 months
Barrel age
New
Type of wood
French oak
Vineyards
La Poza de Ballesteros
Climate
Atlantic with continental influence
Surface area
4.00 hectares
The winery
Artadi
Bodegas Artadi is, in fact, the name by which the Cosecheros Alaveses cooperative is known, a well-orchestrated project that started up in 1985, in which several vine-growing associates became involved to show that cosechero (young red) wine could also prove to be great wine. They were successful, with their cosecheros and all the other wines they have added to their catalogue. During the 1990s, under the direction of Juan Carlos López de Lacalle, the winery saw its prestige...
