Rioja 'Propiedad de Yerga'

Score

97

"The most well-known of families in Alfaro, at the southern tip of Rioja Oriental, the 2024 Propriedad De Yerga from Alvaro Palacios is 85% Garnacha and 15% other traditional varieties of the region, from formerly trellised vines ripped out to be replaced by bush vines. Burgundian in its innate elegance, it has an incredible nose of floral raspberry and dusty herb, characteristics that follow on the refined, medium-bodied palate. White pepper, silky tannins, it's all there, just a gorgeous wine from the mountains of Yerga, where a more Mediterranean climate keeps things cool."

Score

96

"The label of the Propiedad has changed, and now the bigger letters read Yerga, so people will identify it better if we call it 2024 Propiedad de Yerga, and it also has a more geographical approach, as it names the Yerga Mountains, where the vines are located. It's mostly Garnacha with some 15% other varieties, approximately 4% Tinta Velasco, 4% Bobal, 3% Moristel, 2% Garnacha Roya, 1% Vidadillo and 1% white grapes from the parajes, or lieux-dits, of Las Mulgas, Cabecilla de la Ra and Valmira in Alfaro. It's old vines that are head pruned and farmed organically, located at 400 to 640 meters in altitude. He has now purchased the last remaining plots there. There is a sense of purity in the 2024s that I like very much. It fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in foudres and large barrels for 10 months. It's fine-boned, elegant and tasty, with more complexity, nuance and depth than the Montesa, but it follows the same pattern in aromatics and texture and is slender and vigorous, with contained ripeness and very fine tannins. It has 13.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.54 and 5.3 grams of acidity, coming through as fresh and balanced. 9,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2026. This was not produced in 2022 or 2023."