Santa Julia 2023 "La Oveja" Natural Torrontes 750ml

[2022 vintage] The 2022 La Oveja Natural was produced with Torrontés Riojano from Maipú, fermented with some skins, a way of protecting the wine as it was bottled without any added sulfur. It's not your typical Torrontés; it does have some floral notes but comes through as fruit-driven, with notes of apples and herbs and a clean note of mandarin peel, reminiscent of some young and tender wines from Jura. Surprisingly, it has 14% alcohol, because the variety ripens well, and a little more alcohol also give stability to the wines. It has very good freshness, despite all this natural range being put through malolactic also for stability. This range has grown a lot, especially in some markets.

Score: 91 points -- Luis Gutierrez, The Wine Advocate, 2022