Visiting the US over the holidays, my daughter (who lives in Lombardia) asked me to open a bottle of Spanish wine, since she can't find them in Italy. She had no idea about regions or grapes. "I just want something that tastes really Spanish," she said. This Ribera del Duero fit the bill. Powerful, but with some ripe fruit and maybe a little too much oak, it's unmistakably Iberian. It's come together nicely since the last bottle I tried 2-3 years ago. Still on the young side, it would benefit from another 3-5 years of age to integrate the oak. One problem: though the wine was fine, the cork was really dry, and it broke apart like it came from a 20+ year old wine. I'm not sure why!
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Opened this on New Year’s eve with charcuterie. Pretty heavy wall of tannins that night prevented much enjoyment. After two days it had mellowed and opened up quite a bit, but I still think I am a couple years too early. Should have held off. Great structure and beautiful fruit for those with more patience.
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Hour decant, an excellent example of tempranillo from this region, with excellent structure backing the balanced dark fruit and lighter oak elements in a medium mouthfeel with medium length finish. The structure really stands out and tells that story of plenty of years of aging time ahead available.
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1/8/2024 - Mimesis Likes this wine: 90 Points
Visiting the US over the holidays, my daughter (who lives in Lombardia) asked me to open a bottle of Spanish wine, since she can't find them in Italy. She had no idea about regions or grapes. "I just want something that tastes really Spanish," she said.
This Ribera del Duero fit the bill. Powerful, but with some ripe fruit and maybe a little too much oak, it's unmistakably Iberian. It's come together nicely since the last bottle I tried 2-3 years ago. Still on the young side, it would benefit from another 3-5 years of age to integrate the oak.
One problem: though the wine was fine, the cork was really dry, and it broke apart like it came from a 20+ year old wine. I'm not sure why!
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7/2/2023 - whudock Likes this wine: 90 Points
consistent. Still has lots of life left
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12/31/2021 - DB Lawton Likes this wine: 91 Points
Opened this on New Year’s eve with charcuterie. Pretty heavy wall of tannins that night prevented much enjoyment. After two days it had mellowed and opened up quite a bit, but I still think I am a couple years too early. Should have held off. Great structure and beautiful fruit for those with more patience.
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11/23/2021 - quaffnov Likes this wine: 93 Points
Hour decant, an excellent example of tempranillo from this region, with excellent structure backing the balanced dark fruit and lighter oak elements in a medium mouthfeel with medium length finish. The structure really stands out and tells that story of plenty of years of aging time ahead available.
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11/16/2021 - K&J Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very nice! Harkens to be a classic mid tier Ribera Del Duero wine. Definitely in the drink window now.
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