Ribera
del Duero: tasting 19
leading wines
Although
wine has been made in the Ribera del Duero region of Spain for perhaps
2000 years, it's only recently that the region has achieved celebrity
status. Since achieving DO status in the early 1980s, Ribera del Duero
has emerged as one of Spain's leading wine
regions. Until then, there had just been one wine of note -
albeit an exceptional one - Vega Sicilia.
In
the late 1980s and early 1990s the press attention and the obvious
quality of some of the new wines led to a bit of a goldrush: vineyards
were purchased for large sums and new vineyards were planted. Things
seem to be settling down now; there's even a slight excess of grapes
produced.
The
region itself is based on Spain's central plateau, and thus is at
altitude, ranging from around 750 m to 900 m. It has very cold winters
and hot summers, with diurnal swings in temperature. Tempranillo (aka
Tinto Fino) is the dominant grape here, and all the attention is on
red wines.
This
tasting involved a hand-picked selection of 18 wines (chosen by
Spain-based Brit Harold Heckle), with the 1996 Vega Sicilia Unico
thrown in for good measure. It was a mixed bag, with a few high spots
and more than a few rather rather average wines.
Wine
|
Subregion
|
Vine
age
|
Note
|
Score/100
|
Rauda Tinto Joven 2004
|
Roa
|
na
|
Simple primary style. Quite delicious, with an open
dark fruits nose and a lovely sweetness to the fruit on the
palate. Finishes with earthy, spicy tannins and a bit of
bitterness.
|
88
|
Jaros 2003
|
Pesquera de Duero
|
15
|
Quite a shy nose. Good concentration of pure,
slightly savoury fruit on the palate with nice structure and
weight. A nice wine.
|
89
|
Blasón de Romero 2002
|
Aranda de Duero
|
20
|
Very distinctive nose is quite classy, but quite oaky,
showing a spicy, roast coffee edge to the dark fruits. More
chocolatey coffee oak on the palate dominates this rather firm
wine.
|
86
|
Carramimbre 2002
|
Peñafiel
|
30
|
Quite elegant, savoury dark fruits nose. Fresh and
brightly fruited palate with a rather austere finish showing
roasted oak notes.
|
85
|
Comenge 2002
|
Curiel de Duero y Pesquera de Duero
|
11
|
Dark, earthy, slightly herby fruit on the nose. The
palate shows lovely fresh fruit with good acidity. Nice purity
of red fruits here: a supple, quite elegant wine with nice
structure.
|
90
|
Félix Callejo 2002
|
Sotillo de la Ribera
|
60
|
Sweet chocolatey nose: classy and dark. Lovely fruit
and good balance on the palate, with some fine tannins and a
hint of earth.
|
91
|
Kirios de Adrada 2002
|
Pardilla
|
70
|
Dark, forward, spicy, fruity nose. The palate is
full, fruity and chocolatey with plenty of oak and ripe fruit. A
new worldy sort of style.
|
89
|
Montecastro y Llanahermosa 2002
|
Castrillo de Duero
|
47
|
Sweet coconut and vanilla nose with ripe dark fruits.
Supple but oak dominated, although still elegant. The palate
shows elegant red and black fruits with a smooth, spicy, earthy
finish. Oaky but nice.
|
90
|
Viña Fuentenarro 2002
|
La Horra
|
35
|
Vivid spicy nose with red and black fruits, together
with some chocolatey oak. Spicy, earthy structure: quite savoury
with mouthcoating tannins. A structured style.
|
88
|
Aalto PS 2001
|
La Horra y Quemada
|
70
|
This is fantastic. Wonderful concentrated dark fruits
nose with complex red and black fruits, a liqueur-like richness
and lots of spiciness. The palate is concentrated and dense with
nice fruit sweetness combined with smooth, firm tannins and some
earthiness. Lots of potential here. Almost a complete wine.
|
94
|
Briego Fiel 2001
|
Peñafiel
|
15
|
Quite a lifted, tarry, herby red and black fruits
nose. Perfumed. Expressive, savoury, tarry palate is quite
tannic. Tending towards austerity. Needs time to open out.
|
90
|
Carmelo Rodero 2001
|
Pedrosa de Duero
|
34
|
Sweet caramelly nose with a slightly eggy edge. The
palate is dense, sweet and a bit fudgey. Don’t like terribly
much, although there’s good concentration.
|
84
|
D’Anguix 2001
|
Anguix
|
40
|
Nicely defined spicy dark fruits nose, with
chocolate, spice and tar. The palate has lovely weight and good
elegance, showing savoury, spicy dark fruits. Lovely balance:
the key here is good acidity.
|
92
|
Hacienda el Monasterio 2001
|
Pesquera de Duero
|
15
|
Slightly shy nose of classy, elegant red and black
fruits. The palate has lovely structure, with earthy, spicy
notes. A nice savoury, classical style with some minerality.
|
92
|
Prado Rey 2001
|
Gumiel de Mercado
|
11
|
Sweet coconutty nose showing smooth red fruits. The
palate shows sweet red fruits carrying a strong spicy oak
imprint. Acessible and appealing but oaky.
|
85
|
Protos 2001
|
Peñafiel
|
40
|
Quite a sweet open nose with notes of sweet coconut
and vanilla. The coconut oak imprint on the palate is a little
off-putting. An old fashioned style.
|
85
|
Valsardo 2001
|
Peñafiel
|
19
|
Nice expressive, minerally, tarry nose is fresh,
high-toned and expressive. The palate shows open, fresh, bright
fruits. It’s midweight with a marked minerality and savoury,
tarry red fruit character. Nice stuff.
|
90
|
Áster 2000
|
Anguix y La Horra
|
14
|
Slightly shy nose with sweet-edged red fruit. A bit
herbal. The palate is savoury and midweight; rather simple and
fruity with a spicy finish. Not a lot happening here.
|
83
|
Vega Sicilio Unico 1996
|
-
|
-
|
Sweet open, perfumed nose with a strong vanilla and
coconut overlay to the red and black fruits. The palate is much
more promising with dense spicy complexity and lovely supple yet
strong tannins giving structure. There’s some tarry minerality,
too. The oak is still quite prominent but there is lots
happening here: a wine with a bright future ahead of it. There
will be another year in the bottle before this wine is released,
hence the ‘+’ in the score.
|
93+
|
Wines tasted 10/05
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