Atalaya Laya 2019
Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThe fruit-driven and easy-to-drink 2019 Laya was produced with Garnacha Tintorera, or Alicante Bouschet, grapes blended with 30% Monastrell from an unusually wet year with torrential rains during the harvest. It fermented in stainless steel vats with neutral yeasts, with malolactic in barrel, where the wine matured for four months. It's very dark, almost opaque, expressive and open. This comes from younger vines yet is structured and seamless, quite complete. It feels like a very good vintage for Garnacha Tintorera in the zone. The palate is round, somehow creamy, and the tannins are ripe and juicy. 360,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2020. Rating : 90+
The winery and vineyards are located in the eastern part of Albacete, between Valencia, Alicante and Murcia, a transitional zone between the Castillian meseta (plateau) and the Mediterranean Sea. The vineyards are located on poor soils, rich in limestone, at an altitude of 2300-3300 ft. The area has a continental climate with very low rainfall (less than 14 inches/year) which creates the perfect conditions to keep yields low, lending to high quality fruit with great concentration of color and flavor. The vineyards are all dry farmed without the use of pesticides or herbicides.
Spanish red wine is known for being bold, heady, rustic and age-worthy, Spain is truly a one-of-a-kind wine-producing nation. A great majority of the country is hot, arid and drought-ridden, and since irrigation has only been recently introduced and (controversially) accepted, viticulture has sustained—and flourished—only through a great understanding of Spain’s particular conditions. Large spacing between vines allows each enough resources to survive and as a result, the country has the most acreage under vine compared to any other country, but is usually third in production.
Of the Spanish red wines, the most planted and respected grape variety is Tempranillo, the star of Spain’s Rioja and Ribera del Duero regions. Priorat specializes in bold red blends, Jumilla has gained global recognition for its single varietal Monastrell and Utiel-Requena has garnered recent attention for its reds made of Bobal.