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El Escolladero 2023: 96/100 (R. Parker)
The 2023 El Escolladero, like its siblings, carries lieu-dit information on its label. It's from the lieu-dit of El Meadero (which doesn't sound that nice in Spanish), a 0.95-hectare plot on clay and limestone soils in the village of Ábalos that was planted in 1950 at 660 meters above sea level. It's a little backward and with the seriousness that I noticed in all the 2023s. It's 80% Tempranillo and 20% Graciano (all the wines seem to have more Graciano this year) that ripened to 14.1% alcohol but keeping a pH of 3.42, delivering a powerful and elegant wine. It's juicy, round and young, with abundant, very chalky tannins. The destemmed but uncrushed grapes fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in 600-liter oak foudres for 12 months. 1,300 bottles were filled in December 2024.
Artuke has 33 hectares of vineyards, and they have been certified organic since 2021; and five of their seven wines are certified too. Production fluctuates between 160,000 and 180,000 bottles.
2023 was not as warm as 2022, and the nights were cooler, like years ago, which helped to retain good freshness in the wines.
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