Lindes de Remelluri Labastida 2021

The 2021 Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos de Labastida is a fragrant, sophisticated, and deeply terroir-driven Spanish red wine masterfully crafted by renowned winemaker Telmo Rodríguez. Focused on expressing the distinct coolness and high altitudes of the historic Labastida municipality in Rioja Alavesa, this artisan blend is sourced from old, organically farmed estate plots. It pours a beautiful medium ruby color with garnet edges in the glass, lifting with an expressive and layered bouquet of wild raspberries, red cherries, and dark plums, seamlessly intertwined with notes of fresh violet petals, balsamic herbs, licorice, and a whisper of subtle oak spice. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, pure, and fruit-forward, delivering a serious and wonderfully focused wave of succulent stone fruits and red berries. Driven by a stark, linear Atlantic freshness and a distinct, fine-grained chalky tannin structure derived from the region's limestone soils, it transitions beautifully into a long, persistent finish marked by a clean mineral stone complexity and an elegant peppery tingle.

Food Pairing: Pairs beautifully with roasted duck breast with cherry reduction, grilled lamb chops with rosemary, slow-braised beef stews, bison burgers with blue cheese, pasta with meat sauce, wild mushroom risotto, and aged Spanish cheeses like Manchego.

95 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2021 Viñedos de Labastida is one of the largest cuvées, one of the wines produced from the beginning of the project together with the one from San Vicente de la Sonsierra, completely different volumes than the other wines. It comes from many different vineyards, from 440 to 710 meters above sea level in a diversity of soils and orientations and, as such, has a majority of Tempranillo, with some Garnacha, Graciano and most probably small percentages of other varieties. All the wines are produced in the same way to showcases the differences between villages: the grapes are hand harvested into small cases, go through a sorting table and ferment with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel vats. The wines age in barrels of different sizes for 12 months. This has a very balsamic and herbal nose, with 14.1% alcohol and is serious and austere, with great freshness despite numbers that are nothing special in terms of pH and total acidity.