Recently tasted wines from the Ribera del Duero
ValSotillo
Tar, creosote and smoke tend to dominate the nose though there is a nice bed of dried fruit lurking underneath it all. On the palate this is bright and balanced with nicely judged tannins supporting the dark, brambly fruit. The style is a bit easy and the finish shows a slight rustic edge but this is a well made wine. 87pts
Spicy aromatic meld notes of tobacco, leather, wild berries and hints of woody spice and sweetness. The mouthfeel is a bit on the tannic side, though nicely balanced if a bit rustic. The wood spice is a bit too obvious at this point but the spicy wild berry fruit does peek out on the moderately long finish. 89pts
While this shows plenty of toasty oak on the nose it is accompanied by rich, tobacco inflected black berry jam fruit. On the palate this is weighty but bright with polished tannins and excellent integration that allows the sweet, dark fruit to fill the mouth. The wood spice emerges more powerfully on the backend and on the finish but this is a well made, if modern, style of Ribera 91pts
This has a huge leather, herb, spice, and funky, slightly rubbery nose. On the palate it is full of spicy red fruits that are bright but drop off a bit on the mid-palate before returning with a vengeance on the backend and onto the very long finish, which combines bright fruit and savory, aged tones. At peak and great today. 92pts
Protos
Very chocolaty on the nose with spicy, jammy red fruits and hints of licorice. Very bright on entry with a chunky, slightly extracted feel. This is a bit rustic but packed with wild cherry fruit. 87pts
This has a woodsy nose with notes of freshly sawn wood, and damp earth adding contrast to the light wild raspberry aromas. On the palate this is light, bright and fresh with appealing purity to the red berry fruit that is edged with baking spices and gentle falls across the palate. The finish shows a slight astringency to the red fruits but is long and balanced. 89pts
This offers up nice complexity with notes of roasted herbs, tobacco, smoke, and wood all accenting the dried fruit tones. On the palate this is rich and velvety, if a bit soft, with lots of toasty oak tones embedded in rich notes of dark fruits with herbal top notes. The finish is long and powerful, if dominated by spicy wood tones with the fruit powering through to a fresh finale. 91pts
This is even more wood driven on the nose with plenty of spicy accents over rich black cherry fruit. In the mouth this is seamlessly integrated with subtle spice tones up front that give way to big, bright cherry fruit on the mid-palate. Tannins really take hold on the finish, cutting it a bit short. While this is rich and powerful it is also a bit simple, if attractive. 90pts
Martin Berdugo
While the baking spice of oak is noticeable here it is topped with very expressive floral notes and wonderfully fresh red berry fruit. On the plate this is fresh and easy with a touch of herb framing the lightly astringent red berry fruit. The backend gains a nice mineral tone that shows off the spicy/sweet red fruit and leads to a moderately long finish that is touched by earth and hints of chalk. 89pts
A touch reductive on the nose but with air this turns ever so slightly jammy with alluring tar, iron, and game notes accenting the youthful fruit. This is super juicy and fresh in the mouth with light spice tones and subtle soil notes adding a bit of contour to the fresh, uncomplicated, yet pure fruit on the plate. There are some soft tannins giving this some structure, but this is delightfully easy to drink. 88pts
Complex with nutty oak tones, spicy fruit, and hints of tobacco, raspberry jam, and some floral notes. On the palate this is polished but not blocky and retaining a certain transparency. The tannins are obvious but balanced allowing the integrated wood spice and herb tones on the mid-palate to express themselves. The fruit is rich but balanced giving this modern styled wine a complex yet restrained feel. 90pts
Emilio Moro
Cedary on the nose with woody notes, a chalky astringency, and red berry fruit. On the palate this shows solid richness but is dry and astringent. The fruit is really front loaded while the mid-palate goes flat, though this finishes strongly with rich vanilla accented red fruits. A bit choppy and the astringency is worrying but this may come together nicely with time in the bottle 88pts
Smoky on the nose with plenty of fine French oak in evidence but still layered and complex. This has almost a Pinot character on the nose. On the palate this is soft and silky with a seductive milk chocolate note up front that is followed by rich, focused fruit on the mid-palate and then layers of wood spice that turn a touch bitter on the long finish. This needs time for the wood to fully integrate but the balance and length of this wine bode well for the future. 92pts
2005 Emilio Moro Malleolus Sancho Martin
Smoky and jammy on the nose and full of black fruit, violet pastille, licorice, and oak spice. On the palate this is packing some seriously concentrated black and blue fruits that are covering the heavy wood load. The tannins are sweet, if substantial, and while they shorten the finish the lovely earth and herb nuances of the mid-palate do extend through the finish. Really a rich, powerful wine that will come into its own with another 3-5 years in the bottle. 94pts
2005 Emilio Moro Malleolus de Valderramiro
Super tight on the nose though with aggressive coaxing there do emerge small notes of tar, smoke, and vanilla laced blackberry fruits. Rich and polished in the mouth, this is totally dominated by oak, with oaky sweetness and toasty spice filling the mouth. The fruit does play a supporting role on the mid-palate but appears to be over-ripe. The black fruits are more obvious on the finish, which is cut short by spiky, intrusive acids. A whole lot of wine that feels quite tarted up. 88pts
Condado de Haza
2001 Condado de Haza Alenza Gran Reserva
Spicy and dark on the nose with cocoa and vanilla cream nuances to the dark and earth fruit. On the palate this features very well integrated structural component that give this a sot, elegant and caressing mouthfeel and support the fine leather, earth and slightly spicy dark berry fruits that end with a nice wash of refreshing acidity. A nice traditional feeling wine. 90pts
Pesquera
Real earthy on the nose with woodsy notes of tree bark, dried herbs, and spices all adding complexity to the dark fruit. On the palate this offers up some vanilla notes right up front then turns a bit herbal with super fine tannins and succulent acidity all supporting sweet, fresh berry fruit. The finish is long and bright with lovely raspberry tones on the finale. 91pts
This has a lovely set of aromatics, all balanced but including notes of dry earth, herbs, wild cherry and strawberry and sunburned fruits. On entry this is huge with excellent balance giving it a silky feel. The woody spice tones are well integrated into the slightly bitter wild cherry fruit and edged with a sweet vanilla tone. The wine’s balance carries through to the long, elegant finish. A wine that begins to show real finesse while delivering a powerful drinking experience. 93pts
This has lots of brown tones with layers of earth, tobacco, and tea tones over a sweet core of vanilla topped raspberry fruit. On the palate the balance is lovely with crisp tannins up front yielding to a slightly creamy mid-palate full of spiced preserved, strawberry fruits. The finish is elegant, long and pure with a fine balance between the fruit and earthy elements. A lovely, elegant effort. 90pts
This is noticeably but not offensively bretty with just an underlay of barnyard over which one finds rich tones of leather, clay, and earth, but not a lot of fruit. On the palate this is bright and rich with a chunky, slightly clumsy feel with dark black berry fruit that turns a bit hard on the backend. Wood tannin becomes more obvious on the finish which is quite wood spicy, short and dry. This is tough today and I’m not sure it has the stuffing to age that well. 88pts
Ribera del Duero: Classics Old and New
This started out reticently but really developed over the several hours it was opened, gaining a bit more mid-palate richness and depth of sweet, ripe fruit on the back end that lead to a long, layered finish. A real sense of finesse and elegance, much more so than with the last bottle. Certainly drinking well, but with a very long life ahead. 2008-2025.
This is super juicy and fresh in the mouth, with light spice tones and subtle soil notes adding a bit of contour to the fresh, uncomplicated, yet pure fruit on the plate. There are some soft tannins giving this some structure, but this is delightfully easy to drink.
