Ribera del Duero

Ribera del Duero (Ribera del Duero) – an important wine region in Castile and león in Northern Spain. Known for its high quality dry red wines based on Tempranillo, including the world famous “VEGA Sicilia Unico” and “Pingus”.

The capital of Ribera del Duero – the old town of Aranda del Duero, in which are preserved ancient underground cellars for storing wine (bodega). The network of interconnecting tunnels goes up to 12 meters in depth.

Despite its long wine history, the official status of denomination (DO), the region received only in 1982. Then was created and the appropriate governing Council (Consejo Regulador), the body regulating the sphere of wine-making in the same denomination. Then in the classified category includes all 9 wineries. Today there are 270.

Ribera del Duero – literally “Bank of the Duero” – located on the North flat hills of the Iberian Peninsula, at an altitude of 800 m above sea level. Across the region the Douro river provides the local vineyards with the necessary level of moisture.

The inland location, coupled with the damming effect of the mountain ranges Sierra de La Demanda (Demanda de la Sierra) and Sierra de Guadarrama (Sierra de Guadarrama) create extreme climatic conditions in which hot, dry summer is replaced by the harsh winter. Temperatures can range from -18° to +40°, and of winter and spring frost pose a real threat to winemaking.

At the same time, the combination of high daytime temperatures with noticeably colder night in the ripening period create favorable conditions for optimal phenolic maturity and accumulation of a wide range of aromatic precursors (starting materials from which then built the bouquet of the wine).

Successive layers of white limestone, marl and chalk under the top layers of silt and clay add to the complexity of local wine.

Leading manufacturer of the region – Bodegas VEGA Sicilia (Bodegas Vega Sicilia), from which the hurricane burst on the world wine market with its wine “Unico” (Unico).

Tinto Pesquera (Tinto Pesquera) – another award-winning brand created by the most famous winemaker in the region, Alejandro Fernandez (Alejandro Fernandez).

The success of these two brands has encouraged local producers to escape from the mass production of rosé wine and a practice of selling their grapes to large cooperatives and switch to the creation of high quality red wines.

Of the high-profile success stories, can also be called Dominio de Pingus (Dominio de Pingus), which is ahead of VEGA Sicilia in the ranking of the most expensive wines of Spain, and Emilio Moro (Emilio Moro).

Today, Ribera del Duero is almost entirely devoted himself to red wine, and Tempranillo is the leader here at vineyard area. Here, this variety is also known as Tinto Fino (Tinto Fino) or Tinta del Pais (Tinta del Pais).

Old vine Tempranillo – a pride and a visiting card of the region. 25-year-old vines make up almost 35% of all landings. But such an age means a well-developed root, the passing to a greater depth that not only allows the vine to produce everything needed for survival in difficult conditions, but also restrained and more stable yields, compared with the young grapes.

Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero – this wine has deep colour with strong tannins and complex aroma with notes of mulberry and BlackBerry. Most of the top samples aged well over the years, acquiring aromas of warm spices, leather and tobacco leaf.

According to the rules DO Tempranillo should be in local red wines at least 75%. Balance the bouquet is achieved by addition of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec (their VEGA Sicilia used in their wines more than 100 years ago) and up to 5% is permissible to add albilo or Garnacha.

Garnacha is mainly used for the production of local rose. Some manufacturers are experimenting with the addition of their red blends of other traditional Bordeaux varieties, in addition to those mentioned.

Albilo is the only white variety grown in the Ribera del Duero. It is made not classified as the DO Ribera del Duero wines for local consumption. It is also used in very small amounts to soften the heavy red classified.

Source: portal Wine-Searcher