Ruben Diaz 2020 Dale! Gredos Garnacha 750ml

There are two new reds from the village of San Bartolomé de Pinares in 2020, starting with the 2020 Dale. It comes from the vineyard where he used to produce the red La Escalera, but he wanted to produce something lighter and fresher, with less concentration and more freshness and more Gredos character through a shorter maceration and softer extraction but with enough concentration to keep it for a few years. There is a flinty/stony sensation in the nose that I like very much; it's somewhat reductive and might welcome an energetic decanting in advance. The wine has austerity and character, with contained ripeness and 14% alcohol and a very low pH of 3.15 that translates to a vibrant palate. The vines are 75 years old, with some replanted 10 years later, at 1,050 meters in altitude in a cooler but quite dry zone of Gredos, where the soils are granite based but also have some slate. The grapes fermented with indigenous yeasts and had an eight-day maceration, after which time they were pressed and finished fermenting in stainless steel and later in oak foudre, a well-seasoned, neutral 2,200-liter oak container where they wine matured. 2,900 bottles were filled in July 2021.

Score: 93 points -- Luis Gutierrez, The Wine Advocate, 2021