Wine from Ribera del Duero

Bright cherry color. On the nose you will find plenty of fruit aromas, well balanced as well as some reminiscences of spices that are appreciable. The oak presence gives elegant hints of black chocolate and vanilla. On the palate, the wine is very smooth and well balanced with the right amount of acidity. Fresh, long lasting and elegant. 

The wine went through malolactic fermentation. The wine was aged 12 Months in French Oak barrels.  Before bottling, the wine was slightly filtered.

Deep black plum color with violet tones. Ripe fruit on the nose, mostly blackberries and raspberries, intermingled with hints of spice and leather. On the palate, it is warm, fresh and pleasant with a long finish.

Age of the vines: betwxeen 6 and 16 years old.

Vineyards' location: Comarca de Peñafiel.

Vinification is made in large 20,000-liter stainless steel tanks (200 hectoliters) with automated temperature control.
Fermentation lasted 5 days at 22°C temperature.
Total time for maceration lasted 9 days. 
Malolactic Fermentación was completed during the month of November.
Wine was aged in French Oak barrels for a minimum of 4 months.

Pago de Carraovejas Crianza Ribera Del Duero is made from Tempranillo (93%), Cabernet Sauvignon (5%) and Merlot (2%).

Ideal weather conditions: rainy sprin and dry summer. Havest Sept. 29 - Oct. 22. Low yield and excellent concentration.
Aged for 12 months in French and American oak barrels, new and semi-new. Clarified with natural egg white.
Intense cherry color with purple tones. The nose is filled with ripe fruit aromas of black berries and spices. It is rich and fruity in the mouth with well integrated oak, notes of coffee and cacao and supple tannins. Full bodied, smooth and long finish.

Review:

"One of the most reliable Crianzas and an incredible local successes in Spain, the 2014 Crianza is a subtle, harmonic and elegant blend of Tempranillo (Tinto Fino) with some 12% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot, fermented in stainless steel and oak vats and matured in French and American oak barrels for one year before it was bottled. With 15% alcohol it's not a shy wine, but it's nicely balanced, the oak is present but integrated with the fruit, and the palate is full-bodied and round, with lush tannins and a very tasty finish. 600,000 bottles produced. - Luis Gutierrez"
- Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate (Issue #227, December 2016), 93 pts

Pago de Carraovejas Cuesta Liebres is made from 90% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Following the hottest and then moved to fermenting containers where gravity aids the fermentation process. Aged 24 months in new French oak barrels. Clarified with natural egg white. Intense red cherry color with purple hues. Ripe fruit aromas, vanilla notes. Suave and unctuous in the mouth. A strong and noble character.

Review:

"The nose of the 2011 Cuesta de Las Liebres reveals the heat of the vintage, it has a dusty sensation over a core of dry hay and straw, very ripe plums and dark cherries. There are still plenty of oak-related aromas that would need some more bottle aging. The palate is full-bodied, ripe, lush, round and exuberant, with plenty of tannins that stick to your tongue leaving a drying sensation. The palate also points at the need of some more time in bottle. 8,300 bottles produced. - Luis Gutierrez"
- Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate (Issue #221, October 2015), 91 pts

Pago de Carraovejas El Anejon is made from 88% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot.
It was in barrel for one year and then kept for three more years in bottle before it's sold.
Color: Red Purple with same color nuances.
Aroma: Complex nose, suggestive of red berries, tinges of dairy products, toasty and spices.
Mouth: Powerful and elegant wine. Well structured and balanced.

"The 2012 El Anejón is a wine that always feels fresher, younger and with better integrated oak. It's consistently sourced from a specific plot of vines on small terraces, mostly Tempranillo but also with 11% each Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. All the varieties are nicely integrated and the wine feels solid, compact, with no fissures, ripe and generously oaked, but without excess. It's a powerful, modern, ripe and concentrated Ribera, nicely crafted and easy to like. It was in barrel for one year and then kept for three more years in bottle before it's sold. 18,000 bottles were filled in April 2014. - Luis Gutierrez"
- Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate (Issue #227, December 2016), 93 pts

Prepared with Tempranillo grapes (100%), this wine has a very bright, intense maraschino cherry colour that fades to a Cardinal red rim.

It has a very marked aroma with a good balance of fruit and wood, where tones of vanilla intermingle with well-ripened fruit, black berries and wild fruits. There are also noticeable hints of leather and liquorice, resulting from the mingling of the French oak and the aromas inherent in this variety of grape. 

In the mouth, the wine has a smooth texture but fills the palate with balanced flavours, including fine tannins, which help extend the life of the wine. The finish and aftertaste are both long and elegant.

Vineyard: 

Pago de los Capellanes, Pedrosa de Duero. 

Variety composition: 

100% Tempranillo.

Type of soil: 

Clayey and chalky. 

Aging: 

12 months in barrel and remainder on rack.

Type of oak: 

100% French oak, medium toast.

Serving: 

Uncork and decant one hour before serving at a temperature of 16-18 ºC.

Selected harvest with yields limited to 5000 kg per hectare. The harvest begins in early October, starting with the most mature parcels. Once the grapes are brought into the winery, the tanks are seeded with indigenous yeast (start culture) and the alcoholic fermentation begins. During the barrelling period, which lasts 30 days, the wine is crushed and pumped over daily, all the while controlling the density, temperature and evolution of the yeast. At the end of this fermentation, the tanks are emptied and the wine taken for malolactic fermentation.

The malolactic fermentation begins without the addition of bacteria. The temperature is held steady at 20ºC for period of 22 days, during which we monitor the levels of malic and lactic acids. When the malic acid content is less than 0.1 grams per litre, the wine is decanted to separate the lees and is transferred directly to the barrels without undergoing any type of filtration, clarification or cold treatment.

The wine is aged for twelve months in new and semi-new French oak barrels (no more than three years old). At the end of this period, it is taken to the tank for homogenisation, where it undergoes light filtration through cartridges (open pore) and is then bottled.

   Review:

 Plush yet lively, this expressive red delivers bright cherry and cranberry flavors, with notes of blood orange, cola and licorice. Well-integrated tannins and citrusy acidity keep this focused through the juicy finish. Drink now through 2024. 39,000 cases made.

The 2014 Crianza has much more moderate ripeness than the 2011, which was the previous vintage I tasted of this wine. In fact, I loved this 2014, that showed very good balance and a nice combination of power and elegance, ripeness and restraint, fruit and oak. It's 100% Tempranillo matured in 300-liter French barriques for one year. The palate was equally balanced, with elegant tannins and good freshness. 350,000 bottles produced. -Wine Advocate 92 Points