El Bortal de Exopto 2022

This is only the second vintage of Tom Payaubert's Rioja Alta Garnacha, but it's already showing impressive quality. Sourced from the 16-year-old El Bortal vineyard in Laguardia, it's a fresh, scented, refined style with wafts of thyme and oregano, lots of tangy redcurrant and strawberry fruit, nuanced oak and filigree tannins. 2026-33

The new single-vineyard 2022 El Bortal – Garnacha Tinta comes from a 0.5-hectare plot that they work with a horse (like the rest of the single-vineyard plots). It had an integral vinification with indigenous yeasts in 225-liter barrels and matured in used 600-liter barrels for 12 months. It's elegant and a little austere, serious and balanced, insinuating rather than in your face, with subtle aromas. It's not a shy wine; the grapes ripened thoroughly, achieving 14% alcohol and keeping a nice balance. It has a beautiful texture, very fine and chalky tannins, precise flavors and a clean, long and tasty finish. 1,200 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2024.