The Familia Fernández Rivera may be present in Spain’s Ribera del Duero, the place the climate is scorching and the tempranillo grapes develop ripe, growing an unmistakable depth of taste. The household harvested its first classic in 1975. Immediately it farms 200 hectares of tempranillo, all sustainably, bottling the ensuing wines below 4 totally different manufacturers. Immediately we take a look at three of them — once more, all 100% tempranillo expresions from the 2018 and 2019 vintages.
2019 Tinto Pesquera Crianza Ribera Del Duero DO – Hearty and chocolatey, that is an aggressive wine with overtones of black plums, currants, and ample pepper, with loads of vanilla within the combine to sweeten issues up. The tannins are full throttle within the combine now — it is a wine that might stand to be tempered by a while within the cellar — although some extra vibrant indicators of strawberry are peeking by as we speak. Aggressive and tight now, I’d test in once more on this 2026. B / $40
2019 Condado de Haza Crianza Ribera Del Duero DO – This single-vineyard tempranillo is daring however not off-putting, this wine affords an aggressive one-two punch of darkish chocolate adopted by barrel char, with a rumbling anise high quality mentioning the rear. Some brambly thistle high quality is countered by a blackberry component, once more whipped by licorice as issues begin to even out. Easy however definitely pleasant, the greener and extra tannin-heavy parts within the wine are aided by pairing with hearty fare, however the hints of fruit late within the recreation give it some degree of approachability by itself. B+ / $25
2018 20 Aldeas Ribera Del Duero – “20 villages,” FYI. A gentler model of wine than the previous, this wine takes a core of blackberry and blueberry and layers in parts of graphite and a few delicate tannins, which preserve the expertise grounded and balanced. A contact of licorice on the end works nicely with some inherent, lingering sweetness, and there’s a little bit of a balsamic edge that peeks out once in a while, however maybe it’s in the end the additional yr of bottle age that’s what actually helps spherical out this wine. A- / $30
2018 20 Aldeas Ribera Del Duero
$30
