Las Rocas Garnacha D.O. Calatyud San Alejandro 2022

The very young 2022 Las Rocas was the first produced after their partnership with the Gallo family from California ended. There is a change in style here in this warm-ish, dry and healthy year that delivered a good crop with ripe grapes and slightly lower acidity, but the wine comes through as balanced and harmonious, not warm at all. They used 40% full clusters for the fermentation in concrete with a short maceration and moderate extraction. The wine was in concrete eggs, tulips and a handful of Radoux barrels; and they did a first batch in March 2023, and the rest will be bottled a bit later. The wine is very different from all the vintages from the past, and like some of the wines here, it’s being repositioned to lower volume, more quality and also a higher price. This is well worth it. Drink date: 2024-2027. (Luis Gutiérrez,Other,May 31, 2023)