Artadi Spanish Wine Tasting with Special Guest Owner Carlos Lopez de Lacalle

“Good company, good wine, good welcome, can make good people.”
– Shakespeare

Tonight we have a chance to catch up with Carlos Lopez de Lacalle, the next generation at Artadi winery, one of the iconic new producers of Rioja.  They have been getting a lot of press lately not only for their wines but in a shocking turn of events they decided to leave the Rioja DOC, which is the most recognized wine in Spain and considered to be among the world's most prestigious wine growing regions. 

I can only think of one other producer that has taken the most prestigious title in wine off the bottle in a movement to differentiate their brand from the others.  Angelo Gaja did this with his single vineyard Barbaresco and Barolos with the 1996 vintage releases.

The range at Artadi now is three tiers, they have varietal wines, village wines and single vineyard wines, none of their wines will have the DOC of Rioja on them. 

Join us as we taste through the new line-up of wines from this revolutionary wine producer of Rioja with our host Carlos Lopez de Lacalle.  Toni Lampasone will make a special meal to compliment the tasting wines and the fee for this event is $250 + tax.  For reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

Artadi Wine Dinner with Carlos Lopez de Lacalle at Wine Watch
Wednesday, November  30th 2017
7:30 PM

2017 ARTADI VINAS DE GAIN BLANCO
Price: $26.25     Your Price: $23.10
(92 Points) The white 2017 Viñas de Gaín Blanco comes from a year marked by the frost of the 28th of April that resulted in a loss of 20% to 25% of Artadi's crop. The grapes come from a number of vineyards in Laguardia and Elvillar at 450 to 700 meters in altitude on clay and limestone soils. It fermented in oak for 15 days, with some skins in the beginning, but finished fermenting in stainless steel. Only a fraction of the wine matured in barrel for a month, but in general, the élevage was two years and four months in stainless steel. It has a developed nose with notes of kerosene and dried flowers, a hint of chamomile and yellow fruit but without creaminess or honeyed notes. In fact, the palate is very austere and chalky, with some citrus and white flower notes.  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2016 ARTADI ARTAZU PASOS DE SAN MARTÍN RED
List Price: $25.50            Your Price: $22.44
(92 Points) Surprisingly enough, I found more Mediterranean notes of herbs, oregano and sun-dried tomato in the 2016 Pasos de San Martín than in the 2017 Santa Cruz de Artazu, despite the cooler vintage and the cooler zone in San Martín de Unx. This had a short élevage of only seven months in 500-liter French oak barrels, and the oak feels very integrated, with the wine coming through as floral and fruit driven. There is always an acute note of violets in this wine. This is nicely textured with fine-grained chalky tannins and more freshness on the palate than what the notes in the nose might point at.  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2019 ARTADI VINAS DE GAIN RIOJA
Price: $23.25     Your Price: $20.46
This wine has its origin in vineyards located in the villages of Laguardia and Elvillar de Álava laying on the spots of Castejones,Verdecillo,Carracuesta, El Cerradillo, Los Mazuelos, Las Ventas, Paulejas, Parredonda, Santa Águeda, Valmayor and Majadales.
This wine can be enjoyed at a young age expressing the youthfulnees of each vintage or it can be rediscovered after having spent a few years in the bottle. The style of this wine is characterised by aromas and flavours of fresh and delicate red fruits. Their sweet and subtle tannins generate velvety textures in the mouth.

2018 ARTADI VINAS DE GAIN RIOJA
Price: $28.00     Your Price: $24.64          Quantity in Stock: 7
(93 points) “ The young red 2018 Viñas de Gaín follows the same philosophy as the white, grapes from a variety of vineyards in Laguardia and Elvillar ferment in oak and stainless steel vats followed by malolactic in barrel and an élevage in oak of nine months. It showcases the serious and fresh style of the best wines from the year. It has cold fruit and a very fine thread in the palate, fine tannins, long and balanced, very fresh. It has depth and complexity. A very good wine, it transcends its price point, like an upgraded version of the 2016. (LG) “ (1/2021)  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2019 ARTADI VALDEGINES
Price: $63.00     Your Price: $55.44
(94 points) "The 2019 Valdeginés comes from an east-facing plot of five hectares opposite La Poza de Ballesteros. The plot was planted 35 to 40 years ago at 600 meters in altitude in the village of Laguardia, and it gets the morning sun. 2019 is a fresh and fruit-driven vintage. Despite the warmth of the year and the lack of water, it has ripe fruit. And it has 14.65% alcohol and mellow acidity, but the palate is not heavy; it's quite fluid. It's harmonious and with very fine and round tannins. A gentle and elegant Valdeginés with lots of licorice, which seems to be the character of the year. The wines are quite approachable and ready in general, but this overdelivers. 20,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2021. Drink: 2022-2028. (Dec 2021)" Luis Gutiérrez (Wine Advocate):

2019 ARTADI SAN LAZARO
List Price: $129.00          Your Price: $113.52
A wine with a well-defined and structured backbone that contains angular shapes which denote power. It presents itself with cautious speech in a submissive way when first entering the mouth, and the strength of its blended tannins and its powerful balance are appreciable in the mid-palate.
Single vineyard wine
Clay-limestone soils lightly compacted. We distinguish vineyards in slope with soils which are shallow and set on soft sandstone rock and the vineyards on terrace set on deeper and fresher soils.

2019 ARTADI LA POZA DE BALLESTEROS
Price: $150.00   Your Price: $132.00­­
(93 Points) 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. The exposition to the afternoon sun and the deeper soils of this 1.18-hectare plot of vines planted in 1960 on deep brown 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.Best After 2022 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 

2019 ARTADI ALAVA EL CARRETIL
Price: $246.00   Your Price: $216.48
A wine with deep sensations: one can feel the vibrant fruit along with fibrous and sculpted tannins. A fusion between ripe flavor profiles and the precision of mineral characters, the projection of fine tannins and the encompassing texture of a delicate wine.
Clay-limestone set on a sandstone rock with calcareous precipitation placed on the highest and poorest areas. In the deepest and freshest areas we find soil which lies on a significant clay-limestone layer. Depth between 40 and 90 cm.

2019 ARTADI VINA EL PISON ALAVA
Price: $408.00   Your Price: $359.04
(98 Points) The bottled version of the 2019 Viña El Pisón shows the ripeness (14.64% alcohol) and mellow acidity of the vintage, coming through as soft and gentle. The vines from this iconic 2.4-hectare plot planted in Laguardia in 1945 had a soft vinification with gentle extraction in oak vats and matured in barrique for nine months. It has a combination of wild berries, herbs and spices, fennel and licorice and still a creamy touch. This is always austere early on, and you have to sense the mouthfeel, agile, long and complex, that denotes a great wine. It has very good persistence, focused, clean, defined and pure. It has both power and elegance and very fine tannins, and all of it with subtleness. It should develop nicely in bottle. Best After 2022  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2018 ARTADI QUINTANILLA TEMPRANILLO ALAVA SPAIN
Price: $127.50                 Your Price: $112.20
Wines of distinct character on the nose and palate expressing lots of freshness. A concentration of fleshy fruit.   Great natural structure and precise definition. Without frills, the wines are four-square and austere, and this is their attraction. The finish offers a lingering tactile mouth-feel with freshness coming through together with definition and an enveloping sensation.
Planted in 1951 and placed in Elvillar de Álava at 585 meters of altitude, laid on clay-limestone soil of medium depth with the presence of hard lime and sandstone mother rock at 70-75 cm. Surface area: 1.13 Ha.
VITICULTURE: Maximum respect for the environment; lack of pest or herbicides. Organic viticulture
HARVEST: Hand picked in crates of 10 kg. Sorting of bunches and berries. Average yield of 4.000 kg /ha
GROWING SEASON: 2018 The 2018 vintage was marked for frequent precipitations during winter and autumn. Along the vegetative cycle temperatures increased progressively reaching up to 35º degrees on the warmest summer days. These high temperatures naturally helped the vineyard to control fungal diseases in the vegetative cycle. At the end of September and beginning of October just before the harvest, we were gifted with kind weather conditions favouring the collection of the grapes.
GRAPE VARIETY 100% Tempranillo

2018 ARTADI QUINTANILLA ALVALA
Price: $84.00     Your Price: $73.92

The vineyard is settled on a former medieval village. We still can encounter certain elements of patrimonial value of the former town of San Lorenzo de Quintanilla, which has remained in the subsoil of this place for half a millennium.
Wines with great expressivity in the nose and a mouth full of freshness. Concentration of turgid fruits. Structured sensations marked by naturalness and a limpid definition.

2019 ARTADI QUINTANILLA ALVALA
Price: $84.00     Your Price: $73.92

Menu
Selection of Cheese: Jamon De Serrano, Spanish Olives, Manchego and Camerano
Torta Espanola
Prime Rib with Tempranillo Natural Sauce
Flan

The fee for this event is $250 + tax.  For reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewaatch.com.

Artadi are some of the most exciting of Rioja's new-wave wines.  Spain's best red wines have long been based on a single grape, Tempranillo, the principal grape of Rioja.  But for much time, Rioja’s wines were light, oaky and often oxidized. 

The Artadi Estate was created in 1985 by the dynamic visionary winemaker, Juan Carlos Lopez de la Calle who envisioned a wine far more ample, generous and concentrated than the Riojas being produced at this time. "The Riojas of the '80s were smooth, but their skeletons were angular," he says. "There was no flesh on them, no possibility of a caress. We wanted a viable alternative. Much about us is the same as the other Riojas -- we have the same terrain, the same Tempranillo. But the expression of the grape is different, as is our philosophy for the wine." Juan Carlos Lopez has proven that Tempranillo can make extraordinarily rich, deeply colored and powerful wines, full of complexity and finesse. His secret is old vines, low yields, high altitude sites and just the right amount of oak influence.

The seventy-five acre Artadi estate is located in Rioja Alavesa.  To the north, it is bordered by the mountains of the Sierra Cantabria and to the south by the River Ebro. The vineyards are composed of clay and limestone soils;  they benefit from moderate temperatures, seasonal rainfall and a cold north wind. 

At the top of the Artadi hierarchy are limited-production cuvees of El Pison and Grandes Anadas.  El Pison is 100% Tempranillo from the 45-year-old El Pison vineyard. The El Pison vineyard was planted in 1947 by Juan Carlos’ grandfather and is just 2.8 hectares in size. The vineyard’s small size and extremely low yields makes its production prized.  The wine is barrel-aged in French oak for 24 months.  El Pison is thought to be Burgundy-like in style while Grandes Anadas is thought to be more Bordeaux-like in style.   Grandes Anadas is 100% Tempranillo from Artadi's oldest vineyards (80-100 years). The wine is aged for 40 months in 100% new French oak. Grandes Anadas is only produced in exceptional vintages – it has only been made three times in the last 7 years, 1994, 1998 and 2001. 

They have changed the entire line-up at Artadi winery over the last year and today the range at Artadi now is three tiers; they have varietal wines, village wines and single vineyard wines, none of their wines will have the DOC of Rioja on them. 

Artadi is about purity of extracted fruit with almost Burgundian textures. In fact, critics have often compared these wines to the top wines of Chambolle-Musigny and other top appellations of Burgundy. The key to this level of elegance comes from the cold wines of the Pyrenees which blow from the north. This coupled with moderate temperatures tend to make these wines a study in elegance and power, the iron fist in a velvet glove if you will. They are some of the most extraordinary examples of Tempranillo in the world.