Erosivo 2020

The top wine from Carlos Mazo's impressive new venture in the Rioja Oriental hails from a 0.56-hectare field blend of mostly Graciano with Garnacha and Pasera planted in the early 1950s. Scented, detailed and elegant, with fine tannins, a hint of good reduction, plum and wild strawberry fruit and barely a whisper of oak. 2023-28

The single-vineyard red 2020 Erosivo comes from a small plot planted with an unusual mix of grapes, 70% Tinta Velasco (that, confusingly enough, is locally called Graciano de Alfaro) and 30% white Calagraño (or Pasera) in the paraje Yasa de las Cuevas, in the Erosiva de Los Agudos. The nose is more Mediterranean with violets and red berries. The wine is ripe at 14.2% alcohol, and there are abundant, slightly dusty tannins. The alcohol is lower and the acidity higher, and the wine has some rusticity and character but comes through as balanced. It needs a little more time in bottle to polish the tannins. It was produced in a very hand-crafted way, foot treading the full bunches in open-top barrels and maturing the wine in a 600-liter oak barrel. Only 720 bottles were filled in July 2021.