1989 Bodegas Ismael Arroyo Ribera del Duero Reserva Val Sotillo

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 92.3 points

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  2/26/2020 - texanoblues Likes this wine: 93 Points

  The cork was very soft like a sponge but did come out in one piece. After triple decant:
  
  The wine was deep red with amber/orange hues and clear in the glass. On the nose it was cherry, eucalyptus, and cedar cigar box. Same notes on palate, dominated by eucalyptus. Medium-length eucalyptus/cherry finish. Really wonderful melted texture. Very clean and pure with no funk or other noxious results from age. Certainly in its drinking window but still a lot of fruit could hold another decade.
  
  This bottle was to me, a real testament to the quality and age-worthiness of Spanish Tempranillo. To think that this wine, which is of average quality relative to other Spanish Tempranillos, could age so gracefully and present such fine character after 31 years is really something to ponder.....
  
  Very enjoyable bottle. If I had thirty years left to live, I would buy many bottles of the current vintage and enjoy a real bargain later in life.

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  12/28/2017 - finewinebuff57 wrote: 91 Points

  Still admirably youthful, a lovely example of a slightly understated tempranillo. Beautiful winemaking

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  4/7/2013 - BVal wrote: 93 Points

  Color: medium/light ruby -> diffuse garnet rim. Bouquet of smoke, leather, cassis. Smells like a well aged, lovely old Saint Julien. Palate of vanilla, cigarbox, leather again. Tannins fully resolved. Drinking beautifully with a medium-long, polished finish. Fabulous. Wish I had more.

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