2015 - Artadi Carretil, Rioja

The 2015 El Carretil is nothing short of phenomenal, one of the best vintages for this pure Tempranillo, which comes from a vineyard in the village of Laguardia on soils that have a very high content of active limestone. Even if in 2014 it had been taken out of barrel a little earlier than in the previous year, the élevage was shortened even further in 2015, to nine months. It's super expressive and open, with a captivating nose, pretty much enclosing the Artadi style, clean, floral, serious, with good ripeness but without excess and with generous oak but a lot less than in the past. The palate combines power with elegance, great balance and super fine tannins. This is a great vintage for El Carretil. 6,500 bottles produced.

Husky and tart again. This tasting of Artadi wines has been so unpleasurable – is it the fault of the repackaged sample bottles? So tough and gruff. Not what people love about Rioja (even though this is no longer classified as such), although you can at least detect ageing potential from the concentration. (RH)