Ruben Diaz 2017 Paso de Cebra Gredos Garnacha 750ml

This is a new entry-level red that was first produced in 2016. The 2017 Paso de Cebra Garnacha is from one of the most difficult vintages in Cebreros in recent times, as they suffered frost and hail and he only bottled one red, this one. This has always been produced (so far) from the same five plots in Cebreros—four with granite soils and one with slate—fermented separately in plastic bins with indigenous yeasts and matured in used 225-liter oak barrels for six months. It's pale and bright, aromatic and quite fresh for the year (which was very warm, very dry and low yielding after all the disasters they had) and the ripeness of the fruit. It has a balanced palate with some grainy tannins and a faint bitter twist in the finish. Very pleasant.

Score: 91 points -- Luis Gutierrez, The Wine Advocate, 2020