2017 Telmo Rodriguez, Beatas, Rioja

Tasting a new vintage of Las Beatas is always a special moment. The 2017 Las Beatas comes from grapes picked earlier than ever, from a year that was warm and dry, marked by frost in late April and low-yielding, despite which the wine is still 14% alcohol and feels delicate, floral and mysterious. It fermented in an open 3,000-liter oak vat with indigenous yeasts and matured in 1,200-liter oak foudre for 14 to 16 months. This is always a mysterious wine, completely different and changing—"tridimensional," as Telmo says—and I thought about an Agatha Christie novel. As it happens with Tabuerniga, Las Beatas transcends the conditions of the vintage; it's nuanced and insinuating, with subtle and very elegant aromas and a textured palate with a very fine, silky thread. A lovely and delicate expression of Rioja that is full of light and energy. There is a jump in quality from Tabuerniga here. 1,501 bottles were filled in May 2019.