ribera del duero

PICARO RIBERA DEL DUERO VINES VIEJAS 2018

One thinks typically of the Ribera del Duero as a more ‘serious’, what with the neighborhood harboring such heavyweights as Vega Sicilia, Hacienda del Monasterio, Pingus, and Pesquera. The term ‘Picaro’, the brainchild of Dominio di Aguila, refers to someone who is a rascal, or a rogue. The question posed by Picaro is, can a Ribera be, well, fun? While they are clearly deadly serious about their winemaking, they seem to be able to be a lot more light-hearted with their winery persona.

Picaro definitely operates ‘outside the box’ for an area like the Ribera. Sure you’ve got your Tempranillo here, the backbone grape of the region, and the specific clone that the region hangs it hat on. But here it is co-fermented with an unusual mixture of Garnacha, Bobal (a grape we associate with climes further south), and Albillo (the rare, indigenous white of the Ribera). So what do you get? Well, let’s call it a rogue within the typical confines of the region, but more accurately it is Ribera with its ‘party hat’ on yet with the complexity and dimension to be taken seriously alongside the icons of the region.

There’s plenty of richness here, but there is also a lift to the flavors that is unlike anything else we have tasted from the Ribera, as well as a certain ‘old school’ demeanor that speaks more of Rioja than the Ribera. Gushing berry and cassis flavors steal the show, but there are also streaks that are like a marinated black cherry, some (Rioja-like) dusty spice, and refined tannins to let you know that this is no ordinary Ribera.

The vine age here is somewhere north of 50-years-old, and the property is farmed organically/biodynamically, with grapes trodden by foot before being put in French oak for malo-lactic fermentation and a sojourn of 12-20 months in wood. The vineyards here are north-facing, which give the wine a little cooler profile to begin with. It all sounds formal enough yet the wine’s wild fruit notes, more lifted personality, and outgoing spiciness can only be described as…fun. Sure there are structural things that you can point to with wine aficionados that will present the appropriate level of gravitas. But you could just haul off and drink this with reckless abandon (responsibly of course) in a way that would seem inappropriate with most, admittedly more ‘modern’ Riberas.

Jorge Monzon and Elizabeth Rodero founded the winery only in 2010 after Jorge spent years selling his produce to ‘several high profile neighbors’. The winemaking is pretty serious here as well and they have definitely separated themselves from the pack in a very good way. We can only marvel at their successful new approach and how Aguila takes such a stylistic diversion and makes you wonder why more people haven’t done it in this way.

We aren’t the only fans either. Their stock has gone up with Wine Advocate’s Luis Gutierrez who wrote, “I tasted two vintages of the entry-level red, of which the young 2018 Pícaro del Águila Tinto had just been bottled and should be released soon. This is their most approachable red, and it has the depth, concentration and nuance of the best wines from many wineries. It’s produced in a more jovial style, but the wine comes from old vines that always have a field blend with small percentages of whatever grapes that are all fermented together, and these vines always produce a serious and deep wine. In 2018, it matured in French oak barrels for 11 months. This is very young and tender, expressive and aromatic, very much in line with the 2016. It has lots of energy and power, more than you might think, and it’s serious. It’s drinkable now, but it should get even better with some time in bottle….94 points.”

‘Aguila’ is Spanish for ‘eagle’, and this eagle is flying high, if maybe a little bit outside the typical stylistic boundaries of typical Riberas. But this is a bold, exciting twist and a welcome addition to the genre as Jorge Monzon is a breed apart from ‘typical’. A rogue? Yeah, maybe. Delicious? Absolutely.

Y MAS FROM A VEGA ALUM

As long as we touched on the exciting new stuff from Vega Sicilia, it seemed appropriate to mention something else new and very exciting that came across the table with a Vega connection. We’ll defer to a piece from Luis Gutierrez that succinctly serves as a good opening statement. “One of the most anticipated projects in Ribera del Duero is the one from the García family of Mauro fame. Of course, Mariano is a partner in Aalto, so he has produced a few wines from Ribera del Duero before, not to mention his 30 years at Vega Sicilia from 1968 to 1998. Garmón is the contraction of the surnames of Mariano’s sons, Alberto and Eduardo, García Montaña.”

This is Mariano’s first project of his own within the actual boundaries of the Ribera (Mauro is labeled with the broader appellation Tierra de Castillo y Leon). He apparently opened this project with the 2014 vintage bust this Garmon Ribera del Duero 2016 is the first we have tasted of the series and it impressed on first sip and really showed its stuff as another bottled was ‘researched’ over the course of an evening. Like the Mauro wines, this has remarkably polished texture and is seamless from front to back with a glossy palate feel and tight but ripe and refined tannins. Since this is our first go-round, we aren’t sure how much to attribute to the vintage itself, but it is a pretty sensational effort.

Classic Ribera flavors of dark cherry, plum, cocoa and earth, with a little balsamic, this is a modern style that can hold its own with top flight Bordeaux. Apparently with this vintage they dialed back the new oak to 50% and the vintage itself has the same lift, poise, and freshness that has been a recurring comment for a variety of examples of the vintage from France and Italy as well. Luis’ notes below are making comparisons. It is from 100% Tinto Fino (the local clone of Tempranillo) from a variety of parcels in Valladolid and vines ranging from 30 to 100 years of age from vineyards at nearly 3000 feet elevation.

The Wine Advocate notes,“Cropped from a cooler year, the 2016 Garmón is fresher, cooler and juicier, with elegant and polished tannins (compared to the 2015 tasted the same day). The process is similar every year, and the differences are mostly due to vintage variations, but in this vintage, they used a higher percentage of used barriques for the élevage (50/50 new and used). 2016 is fresher, more elegant and a little lighter. It has a medium to full body and some grainy tannins. Give it a little more time before you pull the cork…93 points.”

The tasting note was from August, 2018. A ‘little more time’ has passed and a lot can happen in a year and a half. It wouldn’t surprise us if this wine was a little more closed back then only two months after bottling. We had no trouble ‘pulling the cork’ presently, though it did expand in the glass a bit and will age a long time should one choose. In the here and now, we’d be a point or two higher than Luis if we did that sort of scoring thing ourselves. This is serious juice.

“MURDERERS’ ROW” FROM VEGA SICILIA

A lot of folks think a busy day for a typical wine merchant is a gala luncheon, an afternoon tasting of rare, high-end wines, and some sort of producer-centric dinner. For some that may be true. We tend to be a lot more clinical about it. While we are certainly going to take a hard look at every such offer we get, there is concern as to what sort of good the event will do for our experience, our knowledge, and the business as a whole. Spending 2-3 hours to taste five or six wines, though potentially enjoyable, isn’t necessarily the most efficient use of our time.

As we think back over the years, there are only a couple of reoccurring events that we have said yes to without hesitation. One of them is Vega Sicilia. We have been huge fans for a long time and have championed their Alion Ribera del Duero (founded 1991) and Pintia Toro (founded 2001) virtually since inception. The wines have steadily improved over the years as the Alvarez family (who bought Vega Sicilia in 1982) has upped their game both by becoming more tuned in with their individual terroirs and how to get the most out of them.

Each property has its own timetable for release, and this year’s lineup was arguably the best ever, in part because each of the wines came from benchmark vintages (2015, 2016, and 2010) and were highpoint efforts within each of their ongoing series. If money was no object, these would definitely qualify as desert island/self-quarantine wines. This was as impressive a ‘rollout’ as we can recall, hence the ‘Murderers Row’/’27 Yankees reference.

Not surprisingly the Benjamin de Rothschild Vega Sicilia Rioja Macan Clasico 2016 , a joint effort between Vega Sicilia and Rothschild, has the greatest resemblance to a Bordeaux than its siblings, yet retains its ‘Spanish accent’. Made completely from Tempranillo, apparently in a brand new gravity flow winery, this is the ‘junior’ if the two bottlings here but we found it more complete front to back than it’s more expensive stablemate. There is more insistent oak influence here than the other bottlings we will talk about, but the vanilla and toast notes are all beautifully integrated with the cassis and earth aspects the the vineyard itself imparts.

Wine Advocate’s Luis Gutierrez notes, “In 2016, they fermented the wine in stainless steel and reduced the number of new barrels to 50%, while 5% of the barrels were produced with American oak at the Vega Sicilia cooperage. The new winery was 100% ready and now has much better facilities. The élevage lasted 12 months, and this has contained ripeness and integrated oak. The year had freshness and balance and helped to produce lighter and more expressive wines, like this one. This has to be one of the finest vintages for this cuvée…93+ points.”

If there was a ‘best performer’ that day relative to its station, it was the Vega Sicilia Pintia Toro 2015. The vintage surely contributed to the wine’s relative tenderness and evident opulence, and the expansive, super fleshy fruit that defines the region was in full array. Lots of care in the vineyard here with hand harvesting into small crates and double sorting followed by 100% malolactic in a combination of 70% French and 30% American oak then a 12-month sojourn in barrel. Pintia is usually ‘big medicine’, but this classically full-throttle effort is also more user friendly out of the gate. Dangerously so as, in this warm vintage, the wine clocks 15% alcohol though they did a fabulous job of keeping the wine’s freshness.

Wine Advocate’s Luis Gutierrez handed this one a 94 with comments, “…even if the wine is powerful and tannic, it has good balance and the tannins are fine-grained. This has reached a good balance between power and elegance.” James Sucklings note gets right to the point, “A very structured and intense Pintia with lots of blackberry, chocolate and cedar character. Full body. Yet, it’s more refined than in past vintages. One of the more balanced bottlings from this winery. Delicious already…95 points.” Amen to that.

The fined tuned winemaking practiced at Pintia is, not surprisingly, also employed at Alion. The difference is the clone (locals are insistent that Tinto del Toro and Tinto Fino are markedly different clones…we agree). Wine Advocate’s Luis Gutierrez gives the technical version, “The highly anticipated Vega Sicilia Alion Ribera Del Duero 2016 spent 12 months in oak barrels, 80% of them new and built mainly with French oak but with some 5% American oak, and some 10% of the volume matured in 15,000-liter concrete vats. It hits the scale at 15% alcohol and has moderate acidity, showing ripe black fruit and a creamy texture. 2016 has to be one of the freshest and most elegant vintages of Alión, a year with depth, freshness and terrific balance. Same as they do in Pintia, they are finding ways to lower the impact of the oak in the wine…95 points.”

From the hedonists perspective, James Suckling puts it this way, “A very savory and succulent Alion with so much complexity of flavor with berries, chocolate and dried meat. Some cedar, too. Full body. Vertical and very long. Purity of fruit and tannins to this wine. Needs two or three years to soften. Release in 2020. Better after 2022…96 points.” It showed more ‘bones’, especially alongside the Pintia. But there’s a lot to like and it will perform nicely with a little air and last a decade or two in the cellar. An exceptional Alion overall, one of the best.

For reference, the Valbuena is essentially a ‘second’ wine of Vega Sicilia , though Senor Alvarez was clearly not down with calling it that. It is always released on its fifth birthday. We have had several vintages of Valbuena but this is by far the most open and engaging, relatively speaking. Often this wine is so structured it is hard to grasp early on. For that reason Vega Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5o 2015 kind of took us by surprise. Don’t get us wrong. This is no little quaffer by any stretch. But the fact that there is more flesh on the evident structure is a pleasant departure. According to notes we read, there has been an effort to make Valbuena a bit more compelling. Mission accomplished.

Valbuena didn’t usually play that well with the critics by and large either. But over the last seven vintages it has held its own with some of the world’s great ‘first’ wines. From Wine Advocate, “The 2015 Valbuena, a red blend of mostly Tempranillo with some 5% Merlot, is released in the fifth year after the harvest. It’s explosive and showy, with a complex nose that shows a mixture of flowers and wild herbs, balsamic touches and great nuance…96 points.”

Once again Suckling speaks from the heart, “The aromas to this are so complex and enticing with nutmeg, dark berries, chocolate and white pepper. Full body. Dense and layered with so much wonderful, complex and succulent character. It just makes you want to drink it. Drink or hold…97 points.” Both scores were high water marks for this bottling.

In all honesty, you probably don’t need us to tell you about the Vega Sicilia Unico 2010. Seriously, this is from one of the world’s greatest wineries in one of Spain’s greatest vintages. In our minds it’s like telling you to buy Lafite or Romanee Conti, or it should be. Suffice it to say this is ‘one for the ages’ that will last as long as you want it too. A 97 from Wine Advocate and a 99 from James Suckling, this is rarified air. Gutierrez had an intriguing observation, “…It feels quite ripe and somehow old style, dominated by ripe black fruit, with a rustic and earthy touch. It has an ample palate, concentrated and powerful, with some earthy tannins.”

In other words classic Vega Sicilia with this effort having a certain timelessness that connects with its past yet offers its own story. Suckling cheerleads again, “This is still very tight and closed with so much depth and beauty. The linear line to this is very vertical and draws you down. It shows intense blackberry, dark-chocolate, hazelnut and walnut character. Full body. Chewy yet extremely polished. Precise. Shows decadence. So drinkable already, but better in 2022.” A must for serious collectors to say the least.

MAS MONASTERIO MAGNIFICO

It would be very easy to go off on some long-winded rant about the Ribera del Duero in general and Hacienda Monasterio specifically. This area has been producing wines for a couple of millennia and probably became more focused as a region way back in the 12th Century. But the official D.O. of the regions only became official in 1982 which is when we started seeing examples in the U.S.. They clearly didn’t have the marketing savvy of Rioja, nor the identity. But some of the best wines in Spain, indeed the world, come from here.

Vega Sicilia, founded in 1864, is sort of the de facto ‘flagship’ of the region, but there are a few other superstars that also carry the proverbial torch. Probably the fastest rising one was an estate assembled by Danish winemaker Peter Sisseck, whose top wine Pingus, only created in the mid-90s, is now one of Spain’s most revered and expensive bottlings. Sisseck essentially searched the land for vineyards in his spare time from his ‘day job’, which was the founding and development of Hacienda Monasterio. We have followed this wine for a long time and it has only continued to get better and better, these days we believe achieving the quality level of a classified Bordeaux, maybe a 2nd or 3rd growth.

Hacienda Monasterio has been on an upward trajectory since the beginning, which is no small fact since it was pretty much one of the stars of the region almost out of the gate. The styling is modern, but plenty of care is taken to let the true terroir of the Ribera, aromas of chocolate, mineral, orange peel and tapenade and a core of intense dark red and black fruits on the palate, shine through. To quote the importer, “It is a testament to the terroir of Hacienda Monasterio that throughout the evolution towards a more elegant style of winemaking, it still retains all of its power and intensity, deepened and enriched by greater finesse and complexity.”

We wrote an email that was a virtual love letter about the 2015 in February of last year, complete with appropriately enthusiastic scores like a 95 from Jeb Dunnuck and 94 from Wine Advocate, ending with Dunnuck’s words that, “Even at $50, it’s a smoking value!” Our take was, as people who have been following this estate for some time, we were comfortable saying that it may have been the best and most seamless and complete effort of Monsaterio we have ever had as well as one of the best red wine options for this kind of price from anywhere in the world. We sold it for $39.99 and it vaporized…as well it should have.

We were recently presented with the 2016. Sadly, there wasn’t enough juice for us to consider sending out a full-blown email offer, but that didn’t stop us from buying all they did have. Why? Well, once again, it got strong praise. The 94 from Wine Advocate was actually a little higher given that there was a ‘plus’ attached. Also the words were strong, “The Crianza is now simply the 2016 Hacienda Monasterio, a powerful wine from a large vintage where the vines delivered a good crop of ripe grapes, even when the grapes were harvested early… This is a generous and ripe wine with a juicy texture, ripe flavors and abundant, round tannins. It feels very young and undeveloped, and the wine seems to have the stuffing and balance for a positive development in bottle.”

Jeb Dunnuck hasn’t issued a review yet but we would be surprised if it wasn’t the same or higher as the last one. In point of fact, the 2016 is a notch better, with a more complete and seamless texture, great fruit, and plenty of stuffing. It is the best Monasterio we have ever tasted in this series, period, and thanks to a market quirk, we are able to offer it for $5 a bottle less! Enough said.

‘PRODIGAL’ DEAL: 96 points, for $19.98?

Remelluri has been on our radar since the first ‘Spanish invasion’ in the 90s. We originally became aware of them through Jorge Ordonez who was the importer at the time. Two of the WInex team visited the property separately about four years apart on an importer tour and the notes were consistent. First, it was way up the hill. Remelluri’s vineyards are located along the slopes of the Sierra de Toloño mountains in the valleys of Valderemelluri, Villaescusa and La Granja at the highest elevation in the region.

Second, we were treated to something we had never experienced before. People from the winery brought out bundles of cut grapevines and built a bonfire in the courtyard. They then took the smoldering sticks, spread them out on the ground and proceeded to cook dinner over them. It was a great show, the meat was delicious, and the wines were spectacular. We still remember the event some two decades later, although we have seen this meat-cooked-on-sticks elsewhere in Spain since then. But you always ‘remember the first time’ and none of that would be relevant if we didn’t really like the wines.

We were big fans back in the day, though there were some distribution changes and a few wines that were a ‘walk on the wild’ side in the years that followed. Remelluri became a solid option but not a slam dunk, and then we didn’t see it at all for a while. Perhaps not entirely coincidentally, one of the emerging hot winemakers of the era, and someone that was followed by enthusiasts thereafter, was a guy named Telmo Rodriguez. His story, in a sense, is similar to the one we have told about Alvaro Palacios.

Telmo, like Alvaro, left his Rioja home (Remelluri) to learn and create his own name. He has achieved something of a ‘rock star’ status among Spanish winemakers, advises on a number of project all over Spain, and has a number of his own labels (Gago, Basa, and Lanzaga among them). Like Palacios, Telmo Rodriguez has returned to his family’s winery after years of perfecting his craft and gaining international recognition for his winemaking abilities.

The Remelluri Farm itself has origins that date back to the 10th Century, and there are local documents that make account of winemaking here since 1596. Labastida Town Hall has records of pitchers of wine made by the Nuestra Senora de Remelluri Farm for every year up to the last century. The modern winery was established in 1967 when Jaime Rodríguez Salis purchased the vineyards at the heart of the former estate. Poor, stony soil, with layers of clay help to retain freshness, with the Atlantic influence providing adequate rainfall and lower temperatures than there are in the rest of the region, this is a great environment for Tempranillo. Remelluri also uses an integrated system of agriculture with great respect for the environment and is currently in the process of gaining organic certification.

With Telmo, of course, comes ‘Telmo’s way’. He is a great proponent of terroir and terroir based bottlings. Remelluri’s newest project is Lindes de Remelluri which means “the borders of Remelluri.” This is one of two specific bottlings now produced, this one from San Vincente and the other from Labastida. The overall plan is for the sites themselves to be the primary focus, with winemaking, trellising, and even varietal decisions based entirely on the best expression of the vineyard. We’ll see how that manifests down the road, but in the meantime this current offering is a screamer and, because of our acquisition scenario, a remarkable buy.

The Remelluri Rioja Lindes de Remelluri Vinedos de San Vicente 2014 is a striking Rioja that toes the line between traditional and modern. You’ve got outgoing, lifted, ripe, insistent plum, currant, and mulberry fruit that exudes freshness but also classic notes of dusty spice and damp earth. It is simply a beautiful, versatile bottle of Rioja . James Suckling was pretty taken with it as well writing, “Some richer, darker and deeper fruit character with plums, blackberries and a dark, earthy streak. The tannins are more upright, more elevated, and the fruit is richer and darker than in the Labastida. This has real presence, grip and energy…96 points.”

Because we purchased this in a way that eliminated a good chunk of ‘extra’ markup, we are able to offer this $32 list wine at a substantially lower fare and post one of our best price/review interplays (referred here as ‘the delta) so far this year. The name is kind of long, as is the story though it is one that needed to be told. Thanks for reading, but we probably had a lot of folks just with the ‘numbers’ at 96 points for $19.98! We bought all there was but we expect it will fly. Good hunting and welcome back Remelluri.