Artadi Viñas de Gain 2016 Magnum

The very young 2016 Viñas de Gaín needed a little bit of air to open up, so perhaps decanting it in advance is not a bad idea. It blends Tempranillo grapes from a number of vineyards in Laguardia and Elvillar, usually with grapes selected from younger vines, and it's produced in a similar way as the single-vineyard bottlings, meaning fermentation in open-top wooden vats with indigenous yeasts and aging in barrique until malolactic is completed. 2016 is a lighter year, with less tannic structure but more approachable and easy to drink young, a characteristic that is pretty obvious in this cuvée, with red rather than black fruit, with more tension and freshness. This is the most vibrant vintage I remember from this bottling. This is the first year that carries the organic-agriculture seal, even though they abandoned herbicides and systemic products in 2002 and have been working their vineyards organically since around 2008. It's approachable now, but it should develop nicely in bottle for a few years. 120,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2018.

This has the typical ripe-blueberry nose of Rioja, but is finer than the majority of young reds from this region. Makes you think of freshly crushed berries. The supple tannins are beautifully integrated and the finish is energetic. Drink or hold.