2021 Paganos La Nieta

With a wine tradition dating back to 1870, the Eguren family is among the absolute top with wines such as Sierra Cantabria, San Vicente Manor, Numanthia-Termes (recently sold to LVMH group). The La Nieta is the top wine and flagship of Eguren and comes from a very small 1.75 hectare vineyard planted in 1975 in Páganos (Laguardia, Rioja Alava) at an altitude of 525 meters above sea level. The soil is very calcareous clay soil. LaNieta means "Granddaughter" and is a project that Eguren started after the birth of his granddaughter.

The grapes ferment in four 1000-liter oak barrels and the wine matures in new French barriques for 16 months. The nose is subtle, ripe without exaggeration. The La Nieta is at the same time a very powerful and a very elegant wine, a combination that is not so easy to find. The palate is medium to full-bodied with a very mineral feel. The wine can now be enjoyed with a hearty steak, but you will certainly be rewarded if you leave it for a few more years. Only 5,000 bottles of La Nieta were produced and this wine is among the top in Spain. Parker also writes about La Nieta "Nieta has been the star again"

The Spanish winery Viñedos de Paganos is an exclusive winery and is one of the beautiful wineries of Hermanos Eguren.

RIOJA 2021

The end of autumn and the beginning of winter are marked by abundant rainfall in San Vicente and Páganos. Early 2021 with low temperatures and a lot of precipitation (including snow) (Filomena), resulting in a very important accumulation of water in the soil causing good compaction and nitrification of the soil, very beneficial for the vines. Early March is dry and with mild temperatures, causing the vines to weep for the first time. Beginning of bud break in early April, with slightly cool temperatures and little vegetative development. Light frost on April 14 and 17 caused minor and variable damage depending on the vineyard plots. Rainfall in April was lower than the usual average. Early May was dry and temperatures were very mild, below normal. At the beginning of spring (early June), flowering took place around June 12. This is a period of rainfall that causes light flower sprouts, giving the impression that it will be a short harvest. In mid-June there were a few hailstorms that did not cause major damage, but did limit the harvest. Two months of total absence of rain began: July and August. From July to September, temperatures exceeded average, reaching 38ºC.
From September 14 to 18, rain falls in varying amounts, creating alarming uncertainty about health and final ripening period. These September rains increase berry and bunch size, and followed by low temperatures and sunny weather will cause a rapid end to ripening and eliminating the risk of botrytis, which balances physiological, phenolic and aromatic ripening. The harvest of the white varieties begins on October 1-2 and the red on October 5, yielding grapes with a total acidity slightly higher than in a normal year and a spectacular phenolic ripening.