Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very fine-tannined Duero with berry, chocolate and walnut character. Medium body. Solid core of fruit. Linear and very long. Polished and thought-provoking. Drinkable now, but better in 2023.
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Wine Enthusiast
Inky garnet in the glass, this wine has aromas of black cherry, blackberry and vanilla. It is smooth in the mouth, offering satin tannins and flavors of dark fruit, clove, licorice, aniseed and a drawn out floral finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
There is a red 2018 Tinto produced with Tempranillo that, in this first vintage, shows quite ripe and heady. It's produced with Tempranillo from Fuentenebro, a high-altitude place that had mines and is rich in minerals. It's a rich and powerful red that was fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in 225- and 500-liter French oak barrels for 18 months. It's very ripe and intense with marked tannins and pungent flavors combining black fruit and plenty of spice and toasted notes. It's a full-bodied, powerful, ripe and generously oaked Tempranillo from Ribera.
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.