Viña el Pisón

The bottle of the 2022 Viña El Pisón I tasted also delivers even more than the unbottled sample I tasted last year. It's elegant, perfumed and floral, like a more powerful version of San Lázaro. It has a medium to full-bodied palate with very fine and chalky tannins, the elegance of Laguardia and the finesse of this specific plot. 2022 was the first year that they increased yields, and the wine is quite expressive, open and balanced. It has 14.64% alcohol, a pH of 3.62 and 4.78 grams of acidity. There are 6,000 bottles of this. It was bottled in June 2024.

The 2021 Viña El Pisón started a little reduced and needed a little bit of time in the glass to open up. It's sharper than previous vintages of this wine, with a superb mouthfeel and very elegant tannins. The chalky sensation in the palate is quite marked. The wine has amazing balance and the components to develop for a long time in bottle. It didn't stop growing in the glass, and that is a sign of a wine that is going to grow in bottle. I'd give it some more time before pulling the cork. 5,500 bottles were filled in June 2023.

One year ago, I tasted this as a barrel sample when it was still young and undeveloped, juicy and with plenty of baby fat. And now tasted from bottle, the 2020 Viña El Pisón has turned into a serious wine despite 2020 being a more approachable vintage with more fruit, but still has a remarkable tannic structure. It's elegant, austere and subtle, with a very long aftertaste, and the strength here is the mouthfeel. It's both powerful and ethereal, with stunning balance. They finally bottled it after the normal élevage, and the idea is to perhaps bottle it before was abandoned, as they realized what seemed like a more fragile vintage at first also benefitted from the élevage. 6,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2022.

The bottled version of the 2019 Viña El Pisón shows the ripeness (14.64% alcohol) and mellow acidity (4.78 grams of tartaric with a pH of 3.62) of the vintage, coming through as soft and gentle. The grapes from this iconic 2.4-hectare plot planted in Laguardia in 1945 had a soft vinification with gentle extraction in oak vats and matured in barrique for nine months. It has a combination of wild berries, herbs and spices, fennel and licorice and still a creamy touch. This is always austere early on, and you have to sense the mouthfeel—agile, long and complex—that denotes a great wine. It has very good persistence and is focused, clean, defined and pure. It has both power and elegance and very fine tannins, and all of it with subtleness. It should develop nicely in bottle. 6,600 bottles were filled in June 2021.