Winemaker Notes
Celia Vizcarra is an estate-bottled wine made by Bodegas Vizcarra in the Ribera del Duero DO. This serious, structured red shows dense, complex aromas of wild herbs with red and black fruits. Super silky on the palate, this wine will reward patience. A decade of bottle aging or a minimum of two hours in a decanter before serving will help this wine show well. Next to the decanter, grilled rare or medium rare lamb chops are a perfect match, as well as grilled grass-fed beefsteak or pork tenderloin with rosemary.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of black plum, cassis, red plum and dried savory herbs draw you into this brilliant garnet-colored wine. It is a blend of 93% Tempranillo and 7% Garnacha and has elegant mouthfeel with flavors of pomegranate, red cherry, black plum, cassis and saddle leather. There are suede-like tannins and a pleasant touch of salinity in the finish.
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Wine & Spirits
Juan Carlos Vizcarra selects this fruit from the oldest tinto fino vines at his family’s vineyards, including 7 percent garnacha in the blend. Aged in mostly new French oak barrels for 18 months, this yields exotic scents of rain-forest fruit, violets, tamari and cinnamon—complicated as a young wine, needing age to mellow its iron and tar-black tannins and transform the lean red-currant fruit matrix into complexity.
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.