Rioja Viña El Pison, Bodegas Artadi 2023

The unbottled sample of the 2023 Viña El Pisón was still completing the second winter of its élevage, now in oak foudre after it spent the first winter in 500- and 600-liter barrels. It looks unusually dark, the darkest of the 2022s and 2023s. It was harvested earlier to keep the spark and finished with 14.35% and a finer-boned palate. The nose has the sensation of riper fruit, even some darkness, a constant in most 2023s, but then the palate has the crunchiness and the vibrant feeling of 2023. There should be some 6,000 bottles produced. It should be bottled in May or June 2025.