Investing in wineries has become trendy among the well-heeled and famous in Spain.  In general it’s a trend that is positive….it shows that wine is becoming more high profile.  The most high profile area for celebrity investment has been Ribera del Duero, one of Spain’s trendiest areas.  Ribera del Duero is the cool wine to drink amongst affluent Spaniards at the moment…Rioja was the region that their paretns prefered.   Also the big, oaky wines of Ribera offer the intense sensations that many people are looking for in wine today.  So I was not surprised to read the other day that Antonio Banderas has bought the winery Bodegas Anta in Ribera.  I was not surprised that he chose to invest there instead of his native Malaga.  Definetely for a quicker return on your investment, Ribera is the place to acquire a winery…however, it would have been really nice to see Banderas bet on the up and coming red wines coming out of Malaga.   See  my article on the great wines from Ronda.  Anta is a respectable winery making some decent Riberas…I’ve had their A5 and their A10, but not their higher end wines A16 and A de Anta.  I was favorably impressed with the A10, quite nice for a Ribera around 11€…usually Riberas at that price range are quite thin on fruit.  I’m looking forward to trying their high end bottles…this si where Riera should shine.  No doubt we’ll be hearing more about this winery now that Banderas is associated….I hope it results in great wines!

Dominio de Atauta is a really unique wine from the Spanish wine region of Ribera del Duero.  As mentioned in my ratings of Ferratus, I’m a bit down on the region.  The inexpensive wines from the region are often hollow and thin on fruit, the more expensive can often be over-oaked.  Also many of the wines, though perfect technically, seem to be lacking a lot of character. I feel that many Ribera wineries have lost touch with the terroir of the region in order to attain the perfect model for an “international” wine.  I’m convinced that it would be very hard to pick some Ribera wines out of a lineup of blockbuster-style reds from around the world….many of these wines lack a sense of place…and they can also be exhausting to drink.  The wines of the Dominio de Atauta winery are the opposite of international…they are firmly rooted in the terroir that the wine-maker tries to reflect in his wines.  The winemaker; Bernard Sourdais is from the Loire Valley, but has been working in Spain for over a decade.  He brings a real French sensibility to the idea of terroir, a concept that is just catching on in a real way here in Spain.   The vineyards are very special; they are located at the far eastern end of the Denominacion, in the province of Soria.  The altitude is higher than most of Ribera, 950 meters and the vines are very old.  The youngest vines the winery uses are 60 years old, the oldest, 160!  The winery also practices biodynamic wine-making and the winery is built in a manner so as to blend into the landscape.  These are all facts that lead to the uniqueness of these wines…but a word of warning…these are not always easy wines.  These are not the big, sweet, juicy Riberas we have become used to.  When I first tasted the 2005, it was delightful in the nose, but the tannins were still quite rough in the mouth.  The wine has since come into a much better balance and is one of the most original and satisfying Riberas on the market…and also good value at 25€..    Even more spectacular are the single-vineyard wines, Llanos del Almendro, La Mala and Valdegatiles that range between 75 and 100€.  Read on for more details on the basic Dominio de Atauta red.  

Another slightly high end wine….but the Mauro 2005 is totally worth its 22€ price tag.  Mauro was one of the pioneers in making top quality wine outside the traditional wine appellation areas.  Its category is Vino de la Tierra, in theory a table wine category, but also producing some of the best and best value wines in Spain.  Mauro was founded in 1980 in the Ribera del Duero area.  Outside the wine appellation has given the winery more flexibility in grape varieties, which include Tempranillo, Garnacha and Syrah.  In the mid to late 90’s Mauro changed wine styles along with many area wineries, seeking fresher fruit and more intensity.  Mariano Garcia, the famed winemaker from Vega Sicilia took over and the result was one of the hottest wines in Spain…it really put the category of Vino de la Tierra de Castilla Leon on the map.  Even the casual wine-drinker has heard of this winery.   I used to drink a lot of this wine, but had ignored it in the past few vintages.  I’ve rediscovered the wine in the very good 2005 vintage…an intense, yet attractive wine with a perfect oak balance…something sadly lacking in many Ribera del Duero wines. It’s great to revisit a pioneer and find it still deserves its reputation.  For more information on the Vino de la Tierra Category of wine see my blog post on the unconventional wine categories in Spain.  Read on for more details on the wine.

I’ve been complaining a bit about the over-oaked state of many Spanish wines lately and probably the worst region for it is Ribera del Duero.  There’s no denying that some of Spain’s best reds come from the area….reds from a robust variant of Tempranillo called Tinto Fino.  Tinto Fino gives wines of great body and structure that do well in new oak.  Many wine-makers have taken that favorable characteristic and taken it too far.  Many top Riberas have way too much oak despite their great fruit and structure….many of my clients have been disappointed by tastings of top Riberas lately.  Inexpensive Riberas are often tough and hollow…lacking in fruit.  It’s not an inexpensive region by Spanish standards….I have found few Riberas below 20€ that I have really liked.  I tasted an Emilio Moro Crianza the other day…it used to be one of my favorites…it’s good value for Ribera at 17€, but the 2005 I tasted the other day was overly oaky.  One of my favorite wineries in Ribera is Dominio de Atauta…they make a range of blends and single vineyards wines that really stand apart from other Riberas…they really focus on terroir.  They are very intense and focused with lean, elegant fruit and great acidity…most importantly they are very carefully and moderately oaked.  Ferratus, the wine I’m rating below, is a new winery (2003) that has garnered some great ratings from Spanish critics.  I am not so impressed.  Read on for my detailed rating.

Today a Decanter.com article caught my eye:  “Sisseck of Pingus owes success to Bordeaux,” which was a preview on an interview with the winemaker in their current issue.   More interesting was the bit at the end of the article that stated that Peter Sisseck is moving away from the very pronounced new oak influence that characterized Pingus from the beginning.  “These days I am more wary of new oak.”  This is music to my ears….could it be we are starting to move away from the excessive new oak that has characterized so many Spanish wines in the past few years?

When I arrived in Spain over 6 years ago, Robert Parker and his team were just starting to pay attention to the wines in a big way.  Since then I have seen awareness of him take off in the wine sector…frequently these days, winery professionals talk about the ratings they’ve received from the Wine Advocate.  I often ask my groups of wine tasters if they’ve heard of Robert Parker, and though many of the foreigners have, very few of the Spanish groups have. The concept of wine ratings still hasn’t really filtered down to the typical Spanish wine consumer…he or she still rely on the recommendations of family, friends, or their local wine merchant.  There are quite a few wine guides and magazines in Spain that rate wines, but ratings are a tool that is just starting to be used as a marketing tool by wineries, distributors and wine merchants. 

Ribera de Duero is one of the most well known wine regions in Spain and it is a cinch to visit from Madrid…only 2 hours due north.
We go quite frequently and have taken a few groups there. We often base our visits on what is called the “Golden Mile”, which is centered around Sardon del Duero. This area is know for some of the top wineries in Spain: Pingus and Vega Sicila being the most famous. One winery in the Golden Mile is our top recommendation to visit: Abadia Retuerta. Fantastic wines and a beautiful, detailed winery visit to one of the most high tech wineries in Spain. Also included in the visit, and equally impressive, is the ancient abbey on the grounds. Unlike many wineries, visits are welcomed and the reception is both warm and professional. If you are in the area…give them a call and stop by.

We just joined a new wine tasting group and Monday, we went to our first dinner. This group has a fun format: once a month dinner with a chosen wine theme. Each person brings a bottle and they are served blind to the group. We vote at the end on the best wines and then they are unveiled. The owner of the winning bottle doesn’t have to pay for his dinner! Great motivation!

This iteration, the theme was Ribera del Duero and Aragon. I knew everyone was likely to bring Ribera, so one of our bottles was from DO Campo de Borja in Aragon.

Ribera del Duero produces some of Spain stop red wines, but at a price. By Spanish standard, the region is one of the most expensive. I’m always looking out for a wine that represents quality for price…fairly tricky!

This wine is quite good value:

Wine: Montecastro 2004

Winery: Bodegas y Viñedos Montecastro
Denominacion de Origen (DO): Ribera del Duero
Alc: 14.5%
Grape variety: 100% Tinto Fino (local variety of Tempranillo)
Oak regime: 18 months in oak (50% 1st year, 50% 2nd year)
70% French, 25% American, 5% Lithuanian
Price: Around 12 euros in SpainI tasted the 2003 of this wine a few weeks ago and found it a little flat in terms of over-ripe fruit and an excess of tannins. The 2004 much better (in line with the better vintage)…it has just been released, so look for it.