El Vino Prodigo La Vina de la Merce Rioja 2019, Spain

The first release of El Vino Prodigo – or the “The Prodigal Wine” – was 2014. Given Pedro’s long-standing experience in the region, he was able to secure several extremely well-placed and mature vineyards in the Rioja Alta zone which, of course, serve as the backbone for his project. The winery itself is also housed in an old building built in the 1940s which he has been able to equip modestly, though extremely proficiently, with a nod both to the traditions of the past as well as clean winemaking technology of today.  El Vino Prodigo is made up of three different wines, each with a clear and distinct concept and origin.  Placeres Sensoriales (or “sensory pleasures”) is a wine about the fun and joy of delivering just that, i.e. sensory pleasure through wine. “When you approach a wine glass and it is able to stimulate all our senses, that is the goal of this wine”, says Pedro. When he was young, he remembers visiting the castle of San Vicente with his grandfather during harvest and smel