Xi'ipal Garnacha Las Bajadas
"This begins with a nice combination of smoky aromatics on the nose, joined with rose petals and dark fruits. Smooth on the mouth... The tension suggests this will age nicely." —
Owen Bargreen, International Wine Report
Grape(s)
100% Garnacha from the single 22-year-old Las Bajadas vineyard
Altitude/Soil
625 meters / escarpments and steep slopes on sandstones, silt, clays and yellowish-red marls
Farming Methods
Practicing organic, Vegan
Harvest
Hand harvested into small boxes
Production
Fermentation with native microbes in cement tanks
Aging
Aged for 12 months in used, 400L, French oak barrels; additional 18 months aging in bottle before release
Suggested Retail Price
$38
Xi'ipal Garnacha Las Bajadas
2015
92 (VM) 91 (I-WR) 90 (IWR) 90 (JS) 89 (WE)
| 92 |
Vinous Media |
Deep, lurid ruby-red. High-pitched, mineral-accented red/dark berry and pot-pourri aromas are complemented by suggestions of succulent herbs and Asian spices. Smooth and open-knit, offering appealingly sweet raspberry and lavender pastille flavors that tighten up slowly with air and pick up mocha and white pepper nuances. Shows impressive clarity and spicy lift on the persistent finish, which is given shape by silky, even tannins. (Fermented in concrete tanks and aged for a year in used, 500-liter French oak barrels.)
Drink 2020-2026
Spain’s Northern Regions Keep it Cool – March 2019 |
 |
| 91 |
International Wine Review |
The Xi’ipal Garnacha offers dark berries and cherry aromas. It has a nice plush mouth feel and is layered with good depth and fine firm tannins. Aged 12 months in used 500L French oak barrels. Despite some astringency, it is very flavorful and balanced. A delicious wine with a lingering finish.
"Spanish Wines of Value and Quality" - June 20, 2019 |
|
| 90 |
International Wine Report |
This begins with a nice combination of smoky aromatics on the nose, joined with rose petals and dark fruits. Smooth on the mouth, the wine shows off red cherry, red currant and wild strawberry flavors with crushed mint and a lovely herbaceousness. The tension suggests this will age nicely.
June 2018 |
|
| 90 |
JamesSuckling.com |
A very fresh and rather elegant Garnacha Navarra with quite gentle tannins and bright acidity lifting the fullish body. Drink now or in 2019.
August 2018 |
|
| 89 |
Wine Enthusiast |
This wine's spicy plum and berry aromas are lightly oaked and minty. It's fresh and crisp on the palate but almost raw, with rubbery tannins and plum, currant and vanilla flavors. It's dry and spicy on the finish.
August 2018 |
|
Xi'ipal Garnacha Las Bajadas
2018
92 (WE)
| 92 |
Wine Enthusiast |
Aromas of black cherry and chocolate-covered espresso bean prep the palate for flavors of blackberry, cassis, dark chocolate, violet and clove. Tannins come on strong at first and then evaporate, leaving notes of spice and flowers on the tongue.
Mike DeSimone -Issue January - February 2023 |
|
Xi'ipal Garnacha Las Bajadas
2019
92 (VfC)
| 92 |
View from the Cellar |
The Garnacha “Xi’ipal” bottling from Bodegas Caudalía is made from the steep La Bajadas
vineyard, which sits at an altitude of six hundred and twenty-five meters above sea level. The
grapes are hand-harvested and the wine fermented with indigenous yeasts in cement vats. It sees fifteen months of élevage in used, French, four hundred liter barrels and another year of bottle aging in the cellars prior to release. The 2019 version tips the scales at fourteen percent alcohol and offers up an excellent bouquet of raspberries, a touch of fruitcake, smoked meats, garrigue, a complex base of soil, sandalwood, distant bonfire and a touch of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, complex and shows lovely depth of fruit, with a good foundation of soil tones, ripe tannins, fine focus and balance and a long, tangy and gently chewy finish. This is going to be a fine bottle once it is ready to drink! 2035-2075.
John Gilman, Issue 117, May– June 2025 |
|
