2016 El Pison

The purity of fruit to this is really something else. I am not sure I have tasted a young Spanish wine with such purity. The crushed-blackberry, violet and sandalwood aromas with dried black tea are so enticing. They really catch your mind. The fruit and tannin texture to this is impeccable, as it just folds together on the palate and delivers a perfect balance of fruit and texture. Dances on your palate. You have to drink it now. But it will age forever.

The flagship 2016 Viña El Pisón, from a vineyard planted in 1946 in Laguardia at 480 meters in altitude, showed an ethereal vintage with a vibrant palate and was extremely open, expressive, clean and approachable, with a lot less oak than when I tasted it from tank in early 2018 after only eight months in barrel. The wine has now been bottled and it's as good as expected, reaching the upper limit of my estimation from last year. It has energy and power, with chalky minerality, austere and with finesse, less exuberant than years like 2015 or 2014. This is a wine that always benefits from more time in bottle. This has to be one of the finest vintages of El Pisón in recent times. It reminds me of the 2010, with a rare combination of elegance and power. 6,000 bottles produced.

Single vineyard planted in 1945. The usual clay limestone. Real savour and energy and so much more confident than the other single-vineyard wines tasted here (Valdeginés and El Carretil 2016). Already approachable but clearly built for the long term too. Bright fruit sparkles on the palate. Wonderfully polished tannins. Very long and glowing. (JR)