Fuente de los Huertos 2019

One of the two single-vineyard reds I tasted this time, the 2019 Fuente de los Huertos Garnacha surprised me with its ripe and creamy character but good freshness. The vines are around 60 years old and are on granite and quartz-rich soils with a northeast exposition at 800 meters in altitude in the village of San Martín de Valdeiglesias. The full clusters fermented with indigenous yeasts and had a long (three months) maceration in plastic bins. It matured in well-seasoned, neutral 500-liter oak barrels for 12 months. This is a drier and more concentrated vintage, not necessarily too warm (more average than 2015 or 2017), and the wine shows notes of aromatic herbs, dry straw and ripe berries, still quite primary with a round, and lush palate with fine tannins and a dry finish. 3,300 bottles were filled in July 2021. - Luis Gutiérrez.