2019 - Telmo Rodriguez Las Beatas, Rioja

The 2019 Las Beatas comes from a dry year marked by low yields because of poor flower setting of Tempranillo, and they picked the grapes from Labastida at the same time as the ones from Lanciego, which isn't normally the case. The grapes were healthy, in small and loose clusters. They waited for the ripeness of the grapes from Las Beatas, so they waited a little longer, which resulted in a concentrated wine with marked acidity, 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.72. The field blend of grapes fermented in a 3,000-liter open-top oak vat with indigenous yeasts, and the wine matured in a 1,200-liter oak foudre for 14 to 16 months. This feels young and tender, more expressive than Tabuérniga, more fragile, tridimensional, different from the single-vineyard wines from Rioja. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with velvety tannins and a delicate finish. It grows in the glass. It should develop beautifully in bottle. 1,506 bottles were filled in May 2021.