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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2019 and 2028 (based on 9 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.7 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 68 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by CheapAndBest on 2/19/2024: Oak has tempered. Needs maybe a short decant. Elegant. Drank as aperetif with black pepper cashews and Indian nuts. Did fine (291 views) | | | Tasted by Rossodio on 9/23/2023 & rated 92 points: Drinking excellently after an hour decant. Enjoy within 5 years or so. (629 views) | | | Tasted by bin905 on 7/8/2023 & rated 92 points: Powerful rose and spice scent. Elegant body with plentiful grippy tannins and a long finish. (691 views) | | | Tasted by ancherrera on 12/31/2022 & rated 90 points: Aroma of raspberries and vanilla. Lots of fruit. Nice acidity. Dusty tannins.
Surprisingly little brick color for a 12 year old wine (925 views) | | | Tasted by JuliannaDHS on 11/13/2022 & rated 91 points: As before, prominent oakiness and dark fruit. Flashy and new world, a crowd pleaser. Not sure there's enough fruit here for long term cellaring. (912 views) | | | Tasted by MS86 on 9/24/2022 & rated 91 points: Very nice, bold RDD with years of life ahead.
Nose is oaky and extravagant. With 24 months aging in new French barrels the oak influence is front and centre with notes of new car leather and milk chocolate.
Palate is full and luscious with powerful acidity and well integrated alcohol. Tannins are fine but still chewy at 12 years of age. Gritty texture.
Flavours add tobacco leaf, black cherry and black plum to the dominant oak.
Excellent length. Drink to 2032. (857 views) | | | Tasted by wine4ever on 7/16/2022: Very nice...reminds me of the wine I use to drink a lot of when I lived in Spain. Nice blend, drink now or wait another 3-4 years for further development. (920 views) | | | Tasted by caspernick on 6/26/2021 & rated 93 points: I have had this wine before and raved about it. Now, three years later, it has evolved- still amazing, yet different. I love it when the label tells you exactly what’s going on here, 80% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in French oak for 24 months. This wine runs a hefty 14.5% alcohol by volume. It is pale ruby in the glass but I was expecting a little more opaqueness. The nose is gorgeous. Luscious oak, blackberry, black currant, cinnamon, tobacco, cedar and a whiff of heat. The legs are literally falling down the sides of the glass. The palate is stunning- rich fruit enveloped in copious yet refined oak, aged beautifully with tertiary notes starting to come through whilst the primary fruit and secondary notes are still very much in force. The spiciness of this wine replaces the usual dusty component that I get from Spanish Reservas. I’m not upset as I love this flavor profile. At 11 years of age it is still young and promises to last another 10 to 15 years. It will develop nicely and gain more tertiary notes with time. Punctuated acidity is going to hold the wine really well as are the very well integrated tannins. I’m loving it. 93 points at the very least. For $20, it’s a steal worthy of 5 stars.
https://caspernick.com/2021/06/27/bodegas-balbas-ardal-seleccion-especial-reserva-2010-revisited-ribera-del-duero-spain/ (2327 views) | | | Tasted by Gdaversa on 2/1/2021: Excellent (2386 views) | | | Tasted by Ravi Deshpande on 1/16/2021 & rated 91 points: Wow this second bottle was a pleasant surprise and a total change from my previous review! Now I get it. On one hand it's an easy drinker but on the other hand it reveals some layers of complexity. Can’t beat it for the price. The bottle will be half gone before you know it. (2137 views) | | | Tasted by kfrench150 on 12/24/2020 & rated 90 points: Deep black cherry/boysenberry colour. Lush nose of blackberries cherry, black currant, dark chocolate, toasted oak and a touch of fresh sage on the nose. Medium full bodied, tart acidity, crunchy dark berry fruit extract, fine tannins and a dry finish with a bit of heat on the finish. Similar flavour profile as the nose with juicy black cherry and black currant with a light smoky note and chalky tannins. Young, fruity, crunchy and zingy. A nice sipper with some salty snacks. (2117 views) | | | Tasted by Ravi Deshpande on 12/19/2020 & rated 88 points: The wine has a slightly confected nose. On the palate there is herbs, dark cherry and leather, but in a kind of confusion without much integration. Middling depth and short finish. I’m not getting the 90+ reviews but it may be a bottle issue. (1958 views) | | | Tasted by ChateauDutremble on 10/21/2020 & rated 90 points: Aromas of red berries, spices...vanilla, leather, chocolate and balsamic notes. Full-bodied and dry with dusty tannins. Tobacco and leather flavours with ripe fleshy fruit. Long spicy finish. Nicely done...drink within next few years. 90+ (1535 views) | | | Tasted by libero on 10/13/2020 & rated 92 points: Delicious. I enjoy Spanish round taste wine. (1210 views) | | | Tasted by Julie Lampe on 10/3/2020: We had this with a roasted leg of lamb and it was fantastic! Probably one of my favorite bottles recently. And to think it was $15 at Costco??
Deep ruby in color. Aromas of herbs (basil, rosemary), black pepper, spice, dark cherry. Flavors of blackberry, cherry, plumbs, raspberry, spice, black pepper, and some really nice herbal notes on the finish. Nice velvety texture.
Excellent, wish they had more bottles when I went back to costco! (1127 views) | | | Tasted by ajbergren on 9/11/2020 & rated 91 points: Deep red-purple with very high optical density and dulled by specular reflectivity. Strong intensity of aromas, with dusty fruits (plums, raspberries, cranberries, and some dark cassis), mixed red and black liquorice, and brambly dried forest floor with some clear but light oak notes that appear integrated. Decent complexity on nose. The palate is full bodied and rich, with a dry framework that has plenty of structured tannins and is dry. This yields a texture of even, polished elegance that shows some back end gritty grip to clean the palate. Flavours of ripe red berries on the attack, with sour cherry and cranberry underneath, providing tension and balance to the rich ripe fruits on top. The midpalate shows some spicy dried leaves and leather as the fruit becomes more dried in character toward the final transition. The finish finds some light, clean tobacco smoke and a mix of oak spices- dill, hazelnut, coconut, and cloves. Medium length on the finish, and overall, good if not soaring complexity with excellent intensity.
This is a really nice wine. Enough depth to be beyond just a good value here, with decent complexity that requires some thought. The blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with Tempranillo provides an international and modern flair, but still an elegant and restrained old-world styling is apparent here. At 10 years, this has plenty of legs for the cellar, and is just coming into a window of fine drinkability with plenty of freshness but nice integration. Excellent wine! (1261 views) | | | Tasted by snarfglk on 8/2/2020 & rated 90 points: Nice RdD, started fading a couple of hours after opening (1204 views) | | | Tasted by Acostaca on 7/9/2020 & rated 95 points: Wow, a fantastic wine from Spain. I prefer Ribera del Duero over Rioja generally and this one did not disappoint. The 20% cab adds body and complexity to the Tempranillo. Highly recommend! (1147 views) | | | Tasted by OttawaB on 6/28/2020 & rated 88 points: Good wine. No formal notes. (1109 views) | | | Tasted by Endodr on 5/9/2020 & rated 91 points: This was a Costco purchase, as I was looking for everyday drinking wines with some bottle age. It’s 80% Tempranillo and 20% Cabernet. This wine is medium bodied and very fruity, with aromas and tastes of black cherry, plum, and cedar. It’s still very tannic and neds a lot of time. As an everyday drinker, priced under $15 a bottle, I give it a thumbs up. Decant or cellar longer. (1317 views) | | | Tasted by CLL on 5/6/2020 & rated 90 points: Rating transferred from Vivino in Jan 2021 and translated to 100 point scale. (688 views) | | | Tasted by jgkost on 1/17/2020 & rated 90 points: Another bottle that is a bit thin. Maybe the lot we received? Not bad but not sure how WS got a 94 from this... (1516 views) | | | Tasted by 3daywinereview.com on 10/1/2019 & rated 91 points: Day 1: Final bottle. Bought over a case for less than $12. Best purchase in a while. Earth, spice, wood, floral and minerals. Medium plus finish. Drink this wine now. 91 points
Day 3: Lots of oak and dill. Lose of fruit that was present on these six months ago. I would cellar any you have. 88 points
Day 3.5: Tons of air with the last glass and it worked. Still has the wood and subtle dill but the fruits have emerged again. Medium plus finish. Cellar as recommended. 91 points
Recommendation: Cellar and drink after 2022. (1937 views) | | | Tasted by noni15 on 9/10/2019 & rated 92 points: Red fruit with cedar notes on the nose. Fruit forward wine. Good PQR from Ribera del Duero. I would hold the wine more years to see how develops. Not bad now. (1428 views) | | | Tasted by 3daywinereview.com on 9/3/2019 & rated 93 points: Another winner. Really no need to repeating how good this wine is but I will give it another great score. 93 points (1443 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Tempranillo BlendTempranillo is the backbone of wines made ihvhhcn the best well-known Spanish regions Rioja and Ribera del Duero, but is also grown as far afield as Mexico and Australia.
As a flavor profile, red fruits like strawberries and cherries can predominate - but with a rustic edge. The Many wines made from Tempranillo will spend a few years in barrel and bottle before reaching the consumers . Many Tempranillo-based wines see a few years of oak - add that to a few years of bottle and the wine can give a subtle - and occasionaly not-so-subtle - leathery mouthfeel. The combination of the tart fruit and tannins make this wine very food friendly.Spain Vinos de España - Wines of Spain (Instituto Español de Comercio Exterior) | Wikipedia
Wine Map on weinlagen-info
Spain is the third largest wine producing nation in the world, occupying the majority of the Iberian Peninsula with vast diversity in climate, culture, and of course, wine. From inky, dark reds of the [Priorat] to dry, white Finos from Andalusia, Spain can easily boast of elaborating a wide variety of notable styles. Within Spain there are currently 62 demarcated wine regions, of which a handful have gained international recognition: [Rioja], Priorat and [Ribera del Duero]. Yet these regions are only a small sample of the high quality wines Spain produces. Regions such as Cava, Penedes, Somontano, Galicia, Rueda and Jerez are only a few of the numerous regions worthy of exploration throughout Spain. Spain can also lay claim to having the most land under vine in the world, growing up to, by some accounts, 600 indigenous varietals of which Tempranillo is their most well known. Other popular varietals include [Garnacha], Bobal and Monastrell for reds and for whites; the infamous [sic] Palomino Fino grape which is used in the production of sherry wine, Pedro Ximenez in Montilla Morilles, Albarino used in the creation of the bright, effervescent wines of Galicia, and Verdejo in Rueda. - Source: - Catavino.net
Spain is not in the forefront of winemaking for its dessert wines, other than for its sweet wines from Sherry country including the highly revered Olorosos (when sweetened). But apart from Sherry Spain has a range of styles of dessert wines, ranging from the those made from the Pedro Ximenez grape primarily in Jerez and Montilla-Moriles) to luscious, red dessert wines made in the Mediterranean from the Garnacha (Grenache) grape. Some good Moscatels are made in Mallorca, Alicante and Navarre. The northwest corner of Spain, Galicia, with its bitter Atlantic climate, is even making dessert wines, called “Tostadillos” in the village of Ribadivia (similar to France’s “Vin de Paille”). The Canary Islands have made interesting dessert wines for centuries (they are mentioned by Shakespeare, for example) and in recent years the quality of winemaking has been improved and the Canary Islands wines are being better marketed now. The winemaking styles for “Vinos Dulces” are also diverse, from “Late Harvest” (Vendimia Tardía) to “Fortified Wines” (Fermentación Parcial). Based on in-spain.info.Castilla y León Castilla y León Wine (Turismo Castilla y León )Ribera del Duero El Corazón del Duero - The Heart of Duero (Consejo Regulador de la D.O. Ribera del Duero) |
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