Winemaker Notes
With a very covered cherry red color, this wine perfectly represents the typical concentration of the 2018 vintage: an intense, mature aroma, endowed with good intensity and great personality. The low production has achieved a clear balance between maturity and freshness, with a clear complexity provided by its months in the barrel. On the palate it is powerful and structured with good balance and a long and persistent mid palate.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
From a mix of old bush vines and some trellised vines. Very aromatic, alluring cherry aromas and vanilla oak notes. Full of dark plum flavours, with fine tannin and a subtle undertone of acidity to refresh. Super-dense with a warming savoury finish. Fermented in stainless steel and aged in French oak.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Malleolus showed very well. It's a juicy, ripe and generous old-vine Tempranillo fermented with their own strain of yeasts and matured in French oak barrels. It showcases the house style—ripe and, in this case, with neatly integrated but generous oak. The palate is medium to full-bodied, and the tannins are fine. There is good freshness in 2018. It was bottled in May 2020.
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Wine Spectator
An expressive red, with a thread of dried mint and mocha winding through the juicy black plum and boysenberry flavors and a minerally underpinning. Dense and focused, with sculpted tannins firming the fresh, spiced finish. Drink now.
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.