The 2021 Pie Franco is from ungrafted old-vine Monastrell planted on sandy soils. It feels incredibly balanced, elegant and harmonious, a little closed, subtle rather than showy. It's slightly riper, like most of the 2021s, reaching 15% alcohol, very Mediterranean, classical with fruit a tad darker than the one in Las Gravas and with a rounder palate but keeping the poise and balance. It matured in oak foudre for a longer time, as they found this to be a more powerful wine that required a longer élevage in oak. Another stunning Pie Franco. 8,297 numbered bottles. It was bottled in June 2023.

I had tasted the 2020 Pie Franco during its upbringing in barrel and couldn't wait to taste the bottled version. The wine comes from the ungrafted Monastrell vines planted in 1942 by the current generation's grandfather on a south-facing slope rich in limestone and gravels. In this dream vintage, they achieved a wine with 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.47 and almost five grams of tartaric acid per liter of wine. The wine matured in 500-liter oak barrels for 16 months. There is precision; it's like laser cut, with symmetry and nuance, and it feels ethereal with lots of inner strength. It has the aromatic herbal notes but they are a lot subtler, and the wine is a lot more elegant and floral. The 2020s are wines of texture, silky, fine and elegant. This is the essence of the Mediterranean. Truly outstanding, world class, the best wine produced in the Mediterranean and the best wine from Casa Castillo ever. I was trying to find reminiscences with previous vintages, and it's different from 2017 and 2018, maybe a mixture of the two, but overall the 2020s are unique and have a combination of Mediterranean character and freshness more intense than any other previous vintage. José María Vicente told me the only vintage that could be compared a little with the 2020 could be 2010. I've seen this wine evolve every year since the initial vintage of 1998 to reach world class. Bravo! 7,800 bottles were filled in February 2022.

As it happened when I compared the 2016 with the 2017, the only problem with the 2019 Pie Franco was that I tasted it next to the stratospheric 2020. This 2019 comes from the same ungrafted and dry-farmed vines planted in 1942 on a south-facing slope on poor limestone soils covered by gravels. In this vintage, it fermented destemmed in underground pools with indigenous yeasts and matured in 500-liter oak barrels for 16 months. The wine is very Monastrell with the ripeness from the south exposition, with pungent notes of esparto grass and tree bark (vs. the pine needles in the wines from north-facing vineyards), characterful and with some dusty tannins that give it some rusticity. This is lovely and should develop nicely in bottle. 6,800 bottles were filled in March 2021.

I think the pure Monastrell from an ungrafted vineyard has to be among the best in its kind in the world, and the 2018 Pie Franco didn't disappoint me. It fermented with 25% to 30% full clusters (less full clusters were used in this continental and cooler vintage) and indigenous yeasts in underground pools with a moderate maceration at a maximum temperature of 32 degrees Celsius. It matured in 500-liter oak barrels for 16 months. The challenge here is to control the power and natural concentration of the old, south-facing vines, and a year like 2018, even if it presented some challenges and made them work harder in the vineyards, provides good conditions to do so. The wine is incredibly shy, closed and austere. It takes forever to open up in the glass, and even after one hour, the wine is anything except explosive. But the palate has the harmony, depth and complexity of a great wine, with superb balance, very fine tannins with a chalky/mineral texture and great length and persistence. Give it some more time in bottle, not because the wine is not approachable, but because it should open up and develop a little more complexity and expression. Fine, elegant and powerful; I think these are the three words that define this wine that always keeps its Mediterranean character even in cooler years, with classical notes of underbrush and olives—in this case, in a very subtle way. It feels like an updated version of the 2013, a direct, Mediterranean Monastrell without makeup. 7,300 bottles were filled in April 2020.

I often think that the Pie Franco from Casa Castillo cannot improve much more, but the 2017 Pie Franco has done it again, taking this pure Monastrell from ungrafted old vines to a new level, reflecting the sun and limestone of the estate, combining power and elegance. I found all of the 2017s deliciously perfumed and floral, and this is no exception. It’s a wine with lots of inner power, gobsmacking balance and probably the highest aging potential of all the wines they produce. It has a refined, silky and chalky texture, great purity and supple flavors. It’s superbly balanced and harmonious, not reflecting any heat but truly Mediterranean at heart. Vintages like that don’t have to be roasted, unless you have a year like 2003 when the temperature didn’t go down at night, because in the rest of the years, temperatures drop at night. It was bottled in early March 2019 after 16 months in 500-liter oak barrels. 8,200 bottles produced.