2021 Zuccardi Finca las Cerrilladas

Vinified entirely in concrete with 40% whole clusters, the 2021 Finca Las Cerrilladas comes from alluvial soils in the Monasterio section of Gualtallary, featuring sand, calcium carbonate and caliche. It opens with an initially introverted, coiled bouquet that gradually reveals the quintessential herbal, spice-driven and elegantly floral profile characteristic of Gualtallary, delivered with delicacy and subtlety. The palate is sleek, racy, tensile and gently enveloping, transitioning seamlessly to a spectacular, complex and multidimensional finish that balances tenacious grip, alluring nuance, vertical lift and weightless density. I found this to be approaching the same league as the reference-point Piedra Infinita bottlings, a feat all the more remarkable as it is only the third iteration produced so far. My score could be viewed as conservative with a few more years in bottle.