Bodegas Atalaya La Atalaya del Camino 2022 750ml

The 2022 La Atalaya del Camino was produced with a blend of 85% Garnacha Tintorera and 15% Monastrell from 45+-year-old, dry-farmed vines. It's concentrated and ripe but with a moderate 14.5% alcohol for a very warm and dry year, but it kept up to nine grams of residual sugar! Every year, this wine and the Alaya Tierra always finish with some residual sugar because the yeasts cannot ferment anymore, but the sugar goes unnoticed despite being a little higher this year. It has a nose of dry hay and straw, aromatic herbs and a sense of ripeness, hints of plums and a whiff of smoked meat. This fermented separately in stainless steel and matured in French oak barrels for 12 months. It has a full-bodied, round palate with abundant tannins and a dry finish. It's very powerful and requires powerful food. 52,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2024, but there are different bottlings from a master blend kept in stainless steel. (Luis Gutiérrez)