Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Fresh, crunchy quality to the red and citrus fruit backed by distinct vegetal and herbal notes: roasted tomatoes and peppers, coffee beans, sweet liquorice, dark chocolate, tarragon and saffron. Great energy and lift throughout. Beautiful tannic structure, assertive but elegantly lined with oregano, violets and Earl Grey. A really lovely wine, with lots of energy and character.
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James Suckling
Fresh blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, and black pepper with cocoa powder and fine spices. Perfumed and fruit-expressive yet deep. Very soft-spoken oak here. Really juicy and precise on the palate with fine, chalky tannins. Shows tension and length. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
An enticing core of ripe red and black currant fruit is enmeshed with firm, fine-grained tannins that provide good tension for this focused red. Fragrant ground coffee, loamy earth and brambly herb notes linger through the finish. Best from 2027 through 2037.
Bodegas Aster was conceived with enthusiasm, wisdom and patience. To find the most appropriate estate, La Rioja Alta sought both the counsel of the old growers in the area and the advice of professors of viticulture. They studied and analyzed soils, grapes and climates in different sub-areas. Finally, Anguix, Burgos proved to be the ideal location.
On the 10th of July 1890, five families shared their passion for wine and founded La Rioja Alta, S.A. That day was the start of an ongoing searching for excellence that their descendants still pursue nowadays. Since then we have managed to get the best from the marriage of our tradition in wine ageing and the state-of-the-art technology in grape fermentation. Nowadays we are an international reference of great Rioja wines. Our wines are the result of an exhaustive selection of our most exclusive grapes and a slow ageing process that provides them with elegance, complexity and sophistication. They are patiently settle in more than 30,000 American oak casks fashioned by our own coopers. We take great responsibility in making our wines using our own grapes. Wines with personality and wines with soul.
Notoriously food-friendly, long-lasting and Spain’s most widely planted grape, Tempranillo is the star variety of red wines from Rioja and Ribera del Duero. The Rioja terms Joven, Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva indicate both barrel and bottle time before release. Traditionally blended in Rioja with Garnacha, plus a bit of Mazuelo (Carignan) and Graciano, the Tempranillo in Ribera del Duero typically stands alone. Somm Secret—Tempranillo claims many different names depending on location. In Penedès, it is called Ull de Llebre and in Valdepeñas, goes by Cencibel. Known as Tinta Roriz in Portugal, Tempranillo plays an important role in Port wine.
Ribera del Duero, Spanish wine region, is located in northen Spain’s Castilla y León region, just a 2-hour drive from Madrid. While winemaking in this area goes back more than 2000 years, it was in the 1980s that 9 wineries applied for and were granted Denominación de Origen (D.O.) status. Today, more than 300 wineries call Ribera del Duero home, including some of Spain’s most iconic names.
Notable Facts Ribera’s main grape variety, Tempranillo, locally know as Tinto Fino, is perfectly suited to the extreme climate of the region, where it must survive scorching summers and frigid winters. Low yields resulting from conscientious tending to old vines planted in Ribera’s diverse soils types, give Ribera wines a distinctive depth and complexity not found in other Tempranillos. Rich and full-bodied, the spice, dark fruit and smoky flavors in a bold Ribera del Duero will pair well with roasted and grilled meats, Mexican food and tomato-based sauces.