Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Selección Especial is a blend of Tempranillo with 15% Cabernet Sauvignon plus 10% Syrah, and other varieties like Merlot and Petit Verdot, from the 54 plots in which they divided their 180 hectares of vineyards. 2013 was a challenging vintage that required some sorting. They went for shorter macerations to avoid green notes in the wines. This particular cuvée matured in French and American oak barrels for 13 months. The selection clearly paid off and the wine comes through as balanced and fresh, with the oak perfectly integrated in the wine. 2013 was a heterogeneous vintage, capable of the best and the worst, where the work in the vineyard shows in the wines. This is a very successful cuvée, produced in large quantities. It's a far cry from the very oaky wines of yesteryear, very representative of the place and vintage; having enough vineyards and different varieties, they can select what goes into the wine each year depending on the natural conditions, as they also sell some in bulk. In 2013 the difference is that they used some more Merlot and a touch of Petit Verdot, which provided some extra punch. This is a great success over the vintage conditions, very accessible and drinkable, with contained alcohol. The good news for consumers is that this cuvée is reaching a very similar level of quality than the single vineyard bottlings.
The rebirth of a historic vineyard and of a whole winemaking tradition, the excellence of which remains intact, laid the foundations for today’s Abadía Retuerta winery. It now has over 30 years of history, as expert hands manage the vineyard by carefully looking after it and creating unique wines with their own Protected Designation of Origin.
Abadía Retuerta is a unique place where time stands still and feelings run high. Here, the past lives on in the present, and centuries of tradition and culture remain intact. It sits within an enclave bathed by the river Duero, which defines the traits of the surrounding terroir. Experts with great patience, know-how and anticipation really get the best out of the terrain: they respect the natural cycles and help the vines adapt to the austere climate of the region, in order to produce one of the estate’s most prized assets: its first-rate wine.
Spanish red wine is known for being bold, heady, rustic and age-worthy, Spain is truly a one-of-a-kind wine-producing nation. A great majority of the country is hot, arid and drought-ridden, and since irrigation has only been recently introduced and (controversially) accepted, viticulture has sustained—and flourished—only through a great understanding of Spain’s particular conditions. Large spacing between vines allows each enough resources to survive and as a result, the country has the most acreage under vine compared to any other country, but is usually third in production.
Of the Spanish red wines, the most planted and respected grape variety is Tempranillo, the star of Spain’s Rioja and Ribera del Duero regions. Priorat specializes in bold red blends, Jumilla has gained global recognition for its single varietal Monastrell and Utiel-Requena has garnered recent attention for its reds made of Bobal.