Artadi El Carretil

Artadi El Carretil is a red wine made by the Bodegas y Viñedos Artadi winery in Laguardia, Rioja Alavesa.
 

Bodegas y Viñedos Artadi’s origins date back to 1985, when a group of winegrowers decided to get together and start making their wines as a cooperative.

In 1992 the Lacalle took over the running of this cooperative with the aim of producing unique wines, wines that reflect their origin. They put all their effort into cultivating the vineyard, thereby giving greater prominence to smallholding wines. This led to them leaving the D.O.Ca. Rioja in 2015, without abandoning wine production in this region.

Bodegas y Viñedos Artadi currently has over 80 hectares of vineyards in La Rioja, with different characteristics, especially in terms of the composition of the soils. It is also part of the winemaking group that also consists of the wineries Bodegas y Viñedos Artazu (Navarre) and Bodegas y Viñedos El Sequé (Alicante).
 

Artadi El Carretil is a red wine made with Tempranillo grapes from an old 5.6 hectare vineyard, made up of 3 plots planted at different times (80 years, 50 years and 40 years ago). It is located in the municipality of Laguardia, 500 meters above sea level, on poor soils of calcareous-clay composition with a large percentage of active limestone.

The grapes are harvested by hand and placed in 15 kg boxes, with the selection being performed in the vineyard itself. Once in the cellar they undergo a cold maceration for 24-48 hours and then ferment with native yeasts in open wooden vats for 10-12 days with daily treading and a small pump-over. Malolactic fermentation takes place in French oak barrels, where the grapes remain for 9 months.