Jose Gil - Rioja El Bardallo 2022 (750ml)
Price: $69.00
| Producer | Jose Gil |
| Country | Spain |
| Region | Rioja |
| Varietal | Tempranillo |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Sku | 8998 |
| Size | 750ml |
Wine Advocate: 94 Points
As with La Canoca the 2022 El Bardallo changes from a single-vineyard to a paraje (lieu-dit) wine and includes more plots in the same place to increase the volume of wine produced. It's Tempranillo with some 10% white grapes mostly Viura. It fermented with some whole-cluster fruit and indigenous yeasts and matured in 500- and 600-liter barrels. It's quite fruit-driven aromatic and reminiscent of the old carbonic-fermentation reds matured in barrel juicy and velvety with abundant chalky tannins and a dry finish. 3200 bottles were filled in September 2023. Jose Gil doesn't stop. The two wines La Canoca and El Bardallo moved from single-vineyard wines to paraje or lieu-dit wines in the 2022 vintage which increases the number of bottles to about 3200 bottles each. There's a new white which will be released after several years of fine-tuning the style they are looking for. There are new plots from La Canoca in 2023 places that he described as "incredible locations and soil qualities." In 2024 he and his wife leased with the option to purchase 4.5 hectares of very old vineyards (80 and 120 years old) in different locations and soils in Labastida including one hectare of white planted with different varieties. I tasted the 2021 and 2022 versions of the five reds they produce. The 2021s are superb but the 2022s a little juicier and more primary are not far behind. There are currently 11 hectares of vineyards owned and rented. They use 500- and 600-liter barrels that age in underground cellars under the San Vicente de la Sonsierra Castle and have a production of 26000 bottles. This is one of the most exciting young projects in Rioja. Published: Feb 29 2024
