Bodegas Exopto, Rioja, Spain

艾歐普托酒莊紅葡萄酒

點擊次數(shù)：4287

The eponymous red 2020 Exopto is an atypical blend of 60% Graciano with 30% Tempranillo and 10% Garnacha, a wine with aromatic intensity, a lively color and a fresh palate and aging potential. The Garnacha was added this year to lower the pH and keep the freshness. It's serious and textured, medium to full-bodied with medium ripeness and 14.5% alcohol, combining power with elegance. The new oak has been lowered to 30%, and three quarters of the volume matured in 500-liter barrels, which means less impact and more integrated oak. 2,500 bottles were filled in February 2022.

This year, the eponymous red 2017 Exopto is an unusual blend of 60% Graciano, 30% Tempranillo and 10% Garnacha to lower the pH and provide freshness, from a challenging and Mediterranean vintage when the blend reached 14.5% alcohol while keeping good freshness. It fermented in 225-liter oak barrels, where it also matured, but he lowered the new oak to 30%, and 75% of the volume matured in 500-liter oak barrels. I still notice some effect of the élevage in the nose and in the texture of the wine, which displays ripe fruit and some dusty tannins. 2,500 bottles were filled in April 2019.

The eponymous red 2016 Exopto had the advantage of a cooler year, and this is a blend of 60% Graciano, 30% Tempranillo and 10% Garnacha—quite an unusual mix in Rioja—that fermented in 225-liter barrels in a method called integral vinification. He has lowered the percentage of new oak to 30%, and 75% of the wine matured in 500-liter barrels to have less impact of the oak in the wine. I was quite surprised when Tom Puyabert mentioned 2011 as the year he thinks has more similarity with 2016, because he told me that in ábalos 2011 was not so warm. Even if the year could have been cooler, this 2016 feels riper than the 2017s, a constant here, and in this case, it's because of the Graciano from Rioja Baja. There are more Mediterranean notes of aromatic herbs, and the wine is quite rich and is medium to full-bodied but with freshness, life and length. There is also less oak than in the earlier vintages. 2,700 bottles were filled in April 2018.

The eponymous red 2015 Exopto is an atypical blend of 70% Graciano from the south, a grape that can keep very good acidity and ripens nicely in warmer vintages (like 2015) and 30% Tempranillo from old vines. In previous vintages, the wine had less Graciano and some 10% Garnacha, but they didn't like what the Garnacha did to the blend in 2015, so they left it out for the first time ever. It fermented in 1,500-liter oak vats with indigenous yeasts, daily pigéage and malolactic in barrel in the spring. The wine matured in 225- and 500-liter oak casks, and they have reduced the new oak to some 30%. Even though they have reduced the new oak and gone for larger volumes, it's still a little marked by the oak and might need some more time in bottle to finish integrating, because there is very nice stuffing here. It has very healthy acidity that should help it develop nicely in bottle. This is elegant and open, less stressed by tannins, within the powerful style of the year. 2,700 bottles were filled in April 2017.

The eponymous 2014 Exopto has an unusual blend, as it's mostly Graciano with 30% Tempranillo and 10% Garnacha. Sometimes Graciano does not ripen properly in cool vintages, so this cuvée was not produced in 2013. In 2014 they did a green harvest and lowered the yields to ensure proper ripening, even in a late and cooler vintage. It fermented in 1,500-liter oak vats with malolactic in barrel the following spring. The upbringing was in 50% new French oak barrels and lasted 18 months, the first six of which with the fine lees, which were not stirred. They managed a good ripening, harvesting quite late into early October. This wine mixes grapes from the warmer and cooler zones of Rioja, so it mixes the characters with focus in the Graciano. It is balsamic and aromatic, with aromas of peppercorns and a core of black fruit. The palate is serious, with depth and silkiness, as well as polished tannins; it is ready for a long life ahead. It could be drunk now, but hold it a few months if you can. It takes some time in the glass to open up. 2,400 bottles produced and filled in April 2016.