Yjar 2019

Aged for 30 months in large French oak foudres and smaller barrels, the 2019 vintage delivers a stunning, translucent bouquet of wild raspberries, sour cherries, and blueberries intricately interwoven with aromatic sage, thyme, crushed flowers, incense, and peppery mezcal-like herbs. The palate is medium-to-full-bodied, intensely vital, and structured with chalky, fine-grained tannins, showcasing an energetic, mineral-driven acidity and a long, seamless finish that leans heavily on terroir rather than heavy oak artifice.

Food Pairing: Outstanding with sophisticated dishes like herb-roasted rack of lamb, seared duck breast with wild berry reduction, or slow-cooked wagyu beef.

99 Points - James Suckling 

A more fragrant Yjar this year, more peppery and lifted. Chalk, pepper and mezcal-like herbs with hints of cedar and cocoa powder to the blueberries. Super refined tannins tread carefully on the medium- to full-bodied palate with great juiciness and a long, polished finish. An intrinsic expression. Already delicious now, but will hold, too.

97 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 

The 2019 Yjar is the third vintage of their top-of-the-range wine designed for the international market and sold through the négociant system of Bordeaux. It was produced with a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano and other grapes from 3.8 hectares of selected plots from the Remelluri vineyards, cropped from a challenging year with frost. This feels young but already very Rioja, marked by the Garnacha, which could represent around 30% of the bottled blend. It's tense and has abundant but fine-grained tannins, a little Italian in style. They kept a lower alcoholic degree in 2019, a moderate 14%, and the wine comes through as very elegant. This has to be my favorite vintage of Yjar. It spent 30 months in barrels of different sizes and foudres. 9,049 bottles were filled in June 2022.