La Hoya 2022

Wine description for La Hoya 2022 by Artadi

Colour & appearance

Cherry red, bright and clear — a wine that radiates freshness even in the glass.

Nose

Fresh red, blue and black fruit, underpinned by cool minerality and fine herbal notes. The bouquet is inviting, distinctive and remarkably balanced.

Palate

Clear and fresh as a mountain stream. Vibrant acidity meets expressive primary fruit, while the tannins are fine and silky. The wine glides effortlessly across the palate, developing mineral grip and appearing energetic, pure and linear. A drinkability that is second to none.

Finish

Long and precise, with persistent freshness and a finely mineral aftertaste.

Terroir & origin

La Hoya is located in the village of Elvillar, in the higher, cooler part of Rioja Alavesa — sheltered by the Sierra Cantabria. This three-hectare, east-facing vineyard sits on soils rich in limestone, along with sandstone and some clay. The roughly 60-year-old Tempranillo vines thus stand in a zone that taught Artadi founder Juan Carlos López de Lacalle: great wines are made in the vineyard, not in the cellar. The vineyard combines the dark fruit and tannin ripeness of proximity to the Sierra with the red fruit and finesse of proximity to the Ebro — the geography of Rioja Alavesa in a single glass.

Grape variety & vinification

100% Tempranillo. The grapes are destemmed and fermented spontaneously. For maturation, Artadi increasingly relies on used and larger oak casks — the wood steps back, the vineyard site comes to the fore. The result: unadorned elegance rather than barrique weight.

Food recommendations

A versatile everyday wine with structure and freshness. Pairs well with rack of lamb with rosemary, roast Ibérico pork, mushroom risotto or aged Manchego. Also a fine choice with duck breast with cherries.

Special features

Artadi only acquired the La Hoya vineyard in 2017 — and since then, the wine has grown finer with each vintage, the tannins more elegant. As a certified organic single-vineyard wine, it embodies the estate’s uncompromising terroir approach: in 2015, Artadi left the DOCa Rioja out of conviction to put the name of the parcel on the label instead of an ageing classification. In terms of price-to-pleasure ratio, La Hoya may well be the finest of all Artadi’s vineyard wines.