LUIS PEREZ Tintilla Balbaina
Al Drinkle on the 2022 vintage of Balbaina
"Luis and Willy have put great effort into reestablishing the Tintilla grape in their vineyards. Its history in Jerez can be traced back to 1657 and they make five different versions, but I found the Balbaína to be particularly striking. It’s harvested at night by hand, and fermented in steel and open-top wooden barrels with 60% whole cluster before spending a year in 7th use casks. Luminescently purple on the nose, if offers stark and brisk flirtations of bright red cherries and wild strawberries on the edgy, stoney and salivating palate. I love it. Mentioning to Willy that this invigorating style achieves the freshness, intensity and vibrancy that so many of my customers want in a red wine these days, he said, “yes, sure, but can you taste the albariza?!? That’s my real goal!”. I was at a loss for words because I had no idea how to look for this influence in a red wine… Perhaps it’s in the admirable tension? Regardless, this is a fundamentally incredible wine and my plan is to drink my way through several bottles until the albariza influence is like facial recognition to me."