Dominio del Challao - Challao 2021

Always more reticent, a little shy and closed, subtle and elegant but with clout and energy, the 2021 Challao is exclusively from the 1.2-hectare vineyard, called Las Silentes, in the cooler and higher-altitude part of the village. In 2021, this vineyard was even more different from the other one that now (starting in 2021) contributes to Angelita del Challao. So, this is now a single-vineyard red, from that plot that was planted in 1945 with a field blend of 75% Tempranillo and the rest Garnacha, Mazuelo, Viura, Garnacha Blanca and others, on shallow limestone soils. It fermented with some 40% full clusters in open concrete vats, foot trodden with a long maceration and gentle extraction and matured in a 2,000-liter oak foudre for 23 months. It has a rugged texture, a chalky sensation in the tannins—stony, rocky and mineral—with a long, tasty and clean finish. All of the wines in 2021 have lower alcohol—this has only 12.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.35. This vineyard is in the process of being certified organic. 2,171 bottles, 45 magnums and 10 double magnums produced. It was bottled in November 2023.

I met a little earlier with Manuel "Manu" Michelini to taste the new vintage from his personal project in Labastida, Dominio del Challao, before he went to Argentina for Christmas, summer holidays (it's the Southern Hemisphere, folks!) and the harvest there. I was still tasting other regions, so these were the first Rioja wines I tasted. All were 2021s except the new white, which was from 2020. Production is 35,000 bottles. 

In 2022, he stopped buying grapes, but he rents vineyards that he works with his partner Carlos Fernández from Bodegas Tierra. As in many other regions, 2021 was a very good vintage in Rioja. These are beautiful, serious, mineral and elegant wines—a modern view of the wines from the past.