Winemaker Notes
Perfect pairing with red meet, or beef stew with mushrooms, matured cheeses, and black truffle, very typical from the area of Soria.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This bold wine shows rich concentration and graceful structure. Ripe kirsch and plum flavors mingle with vanilla, licorice, floral and spice notes that coat the palate, backed by full tannins and balsamic acidity. Big but balanced.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2010 Valdegatiles shows a warmer place and the wine had one degree more alcohol than La Mala. This is a more powerful wine, ripe and heady, with concentration and balance in an XL style. This is still a lot fresher than the 2011 I tasted last year, and it also has better balance; one extra year in bottle has done it good. The soils are slightly deeper and that tends to provide wines with more volume.
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Wine Enthusiast
Black cherry, cassis and cola aromas are on the money and exact, with nothing overt sticking out. This bottling is strongly built, probably the most tannic of Atauta's 2010 single-vineyard wines, but it's not coarse. Savory flavors of smoked meat, tea and baked berry fruits end with rooty, roasted notes. Editors' Choice.
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.