Domaines Lupier • La Dama 2018

Das Flagschiff der DO Navarra

La Dama 2018

Domaines Lupier

Navarra, Spanien

Wine Advocate Mai 2023(Luis Gutierrez)

97/100

No 2017 was produced, so after the 2016 I tasted a while ago, we jump to the 2018 La Dama, vinified by Enrique Basarte and Elisa Úcar and blended and bottled by Raúl Pérez, the new owner of the project. They always look for a more delicate expression of Garnacha from selected stonier plots of old head-pruned and dry-farmed vines in the village of San Martín de Unx that are worked organically and biodynamically but are not certified. The wine is stunning, elegant and aromatic, with depth, complexity and grip. It's incredibly young and expressive and doesn't show its age at all; it has a refined nose and is quite fruit-driven and floral, with very integrated oak (like never before), supple flavors and very fine tannins. It has good ripeness and contained alcohol (13.8%) and good freshness and acidity (with a pH of 3.46 and 6.3 grams of tartaric). 10,000 bottles were filled in October 2022.

Domaines Lupier has been purchased by Raúl Pérez from Bierzo, and the wines come back to the market with the 2018 vintage (there's no 2017), which was vinified by the previous owners and blended by Pérez. Everything remains the same—vineyards (18 hectares of old vines), winery and brands (two, and a total of 18,000 bottles)—only the labels have been revamped and they look very elegant and neat. There should be wines from 2019, 2020 and 2021 too, also vinified by Elisa and Enrique, the previous owners, and blended by Raúl. Raúl Pérez vinified the 2022s, but there is smoke taint in many of the wines (there was a terrible fire in San Martín de Unx days before they closed the deal), so at the moment, it's not clear what's going to happen with the vintage.

Drink: 2023 - 2030