| 95 |
JamesSuckling.com |
This has evocative aromas of dried roses with
some tangerine peel and a stony element. The
palate is medium-bodied but substantial, juicy with
soft tannins and a good backbone of acidity. Aged
in foudres. This comes from a single vineyard
planted in 1940 at 850 meters in the village of
Gumiel de Mercado in Ribera. Aromatically this
would never take you to Ribera. Maybe because it’s
an old field blend of tempranillo, garnacha and
valenciano. This is a unique expression of how old
vineyards were planted in Ribera. It’s also delicious.
Drink now or hold.
June 2024 |
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| 94 |
View from the Cellar |
El Portillo is a single vineyard wine made from very old vines. This 3.6 hectare vineyard was planted all the way back in 1936, to a field blend that is comprised of ninety-five percent tempranillo and the balance a mix of garnacha and bobal. The vineyard is again at a high altitude, eight hundred-twenty-nine meters above sea level, and it also has an easterly exposition to receive cooler morning sun. It is raised in three thousand liter foudres for one year and then an additional year in bottle prior to release. The 2021 El Portillo delivers a superb, black fruity bouquet of cassis, dark berries, cigar ash, a fine base of soil, tempranillo spice tones and a deft framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep, pure and full-bodied, with a superb core of old viney fruit, fine soil inflection, ripe, buried tannins and a long, complex and impeccably balanced finish. This is going to be stellar, but it is even a tad more structured out of the blocks than the Matadiablos bottling and will need even a bit more hibernation time before it softens up properly for primetime drinking. 2036-2075+.
John Gilman; March – April 2024, Issue 110. |
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| 94 |
The Wine Advocate |
The single-vineyard red 2021 El Portillo comes from a 1.46-hectare plot at 829 meters above sea level planted with a field blend of Tinto Fino, Garnacha and Valenciano (Bobal), quite normal in the old times, as this vineyard was planted in 1936. The wine has more of everything—complexity, depth and also elegance and balance—with contained ripeness and 14% alcohol, very good freshness and natural acidity and comes through as fine-boned and elegant. It's floral, perfumed and insinuating, with a lively medium-bodied palate, vibrant flavors and a finish with echoes of acid berries. It matured in a 3,000-liter oak vat for 11 months. 3,000 bottles were filled in September 2022. It's approachable now but should also age. 2024 - 2036.
Luis Gutierrez – The Wine Advocate; June 13, 2024. |
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Casa Lebai El Portillo 
