El Pison 2007 Artadi

Professionele reviews

Robert Parker (98)

The 2007 El Pison is medium purple in color with a superb, already complex nose of smoke, liquid mineral, crushed stone, lavender, balsamic, and black cherry. This leads to a beautifully proportioned, elegant, satin-textured wine with plush fruit, plenty of structure, and a lengthy, seamless finish. It can be approached now although it is still evolving and should drink well through 2027. Senor Lopez de Lacalle’s description of the 2007 is “delicate, pure, and a wine of finesse.”

No visit to Rioja would be complete without a visit to Artadi and maestro Juan Carlos Lopez de Lacalle. Artadi’s most recent releases are the 2007s which were reviewed in Issue 183. On this occasion, we sampled the promising 2009s from barrel in addition to the 4 vintages of the flagship Vina El Pison (all of which have been previously reviewed, the 1995 and 1998 by Robert Parker). The El Pison comes from a single Tempranillo vineyard planted in 1945 on pure limestone.

Jancis Robinson (19)

Blackish crimson. Strong, sweet, spicy leather notes. Like essence of Tempranillo. Very smooth and rich. Excellent vintage because it was cold, giving powerful freshness. pH very low. Velvety, this is really fine wine that is in the rich style of Artadi but it works. The fruit dominates the oak here. My comment that this wine is very different from traditional rioja is firmly rejected.

BOW (8.75)