Artadi El Carretil 2017

Drink now or cellar for up to 9 years. Decant 1 hour before serving.

Artadi was founded in 1985 by a group of 13 local winemaking families who decided to pool their resources to make the best wines possible from their prime vineyards around the town of Laguardia in Rioja. The winery’s potential was soon recognised by Juan Carlos López de Lacalle and he purchased the estate with a view to turning it into one of Rioja’s finest producers.

The quality of the estate’s vineyards has helped put Artadi on the map globally as well as in its native Spain. Artadi officially left the Rioja appellation in recent years to allow more freedom in its approach to winemaking which has paid huge dividends with its single vineyard wines like El Carretil.

This vineyard was planted in 1965 on top quality clay and limestone soils which produce an incredibly well-defined wine with refined tannins and a good structure which will help the wine age gracefully over the next decade or so. On the nose there are intense notes of red berries, sweet spice, and mineral hints while on the palate there’s a bright freshness which balances the intense dark fruit character and a very long finish.