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OUTSTANDING HIGH-COUNTRY RIBERA DEL DUERO

One of the reasons we do this part of the website is to afford ourselves the opportunity to talk about very exciting things that wouldn’t necessarily play well in our quick hit or email formats, the latter being limited by the number of days in a year. Still, distinctive wines like this deserve a forum.

In truth, we offered one of Yotuel’s bottlings, the 2009 Seleccion, some years ago at the old location. We loved the wine with its deep, polished, chocolate tinged blackberry fruit. Why didn’t it sell? Well there are lots of possible reasons it may not have jumped on the shelf, not the least of which are a difficult name (Gallego Zapatero Yotuel Ribera del Duero) for people to remember or pronounce, and a label that looked kind of like a Rorschach drawing (it is actually supposed to be a stylized grapevine). Anyway, some of it was lost in the shuffle during the move and turned up later in the inventory with a decade of bottle age. It was gorgeous drinking.

Coincidentally, not long after the last delicious bottle of that 2009, the purveyor (the same one we bought it from before) showed up with this top of the line effort from that same Gallego Zapatero Yotuel Finca Valdepalacios from the brilliant 2016 vintage. Needless to say, an equally difficult (maybe more) name from a still relatively unknown source at an upper $40 price didn’t promise the commercial success of MAGA hats. But the juice was stunning, layered and distinctive so we were ‘all in’.

The story of Gallego Zapatero is relatively straightforward and similar to many stories in this part of the world. The vineyards were planted by the grandparents of the current proprietors, brothers Bienvenido and Nacho. The nine plots owned by this family are located in the town of Anguix, in the foothills of Manvirgo Mountain. At 2500 height, these vineyards face temperature shifts of 50 degrees between day and night during the growing season, creating some of the most muscular wines in Ribera del Duero. Grapes are grown organically (certification pending), and the wines are fermented with only ambient yeasts.

The Gallego Zapatero Yotuel Finca Valdepalacios 2016 is 100% Tinto del Pais (the true Ribera clone of Tempranillo) harvested from a single, 1-acre plot of 79-year-old bush vines. The grapes were fermented in 100% new French oak where the juice remained for 14 months. The production was a whopping 1073 bottles and 50 magnums. It is a tribute to this boots-on-the-ground importer that something this special with such tiny production made it here at all.

A wine of great purity boasting layers of spicy blackberry, dark cherry, and cassis, with highlights of spice, chocolate and vanilla highlights from the sojourn in oak, and a seductive, velvety layer of fruit nicely overlaying ripe tannins. Given our experience with the Seleccion from years ago, we’re pretty confident this will be a star in the cellar. But it’s a seriously compelling mouthful already.

PICARO: RIBERA GONE ‘ROGUE’

We go out of our way to taste as many things as we can. But for us Spain is a particular penchant. We taste a lot of remarkable wines in the course of our research, as well as the usual percentage of clunkers and other offerings that are getting a lot of critical attention that we simply don’t ‘get’. Ribera del Duero is seen as a more ‘serious’ appellation with the neighborhood harboring such heavyweights as Vega Sicilia, Hacienda del Monasterio, Pingus, and Pesquera. There are plenty of discussions about ‘old school’ and ‘new school’, but one of the wines that lit our fire from a discovery perspective last year didn’t seem part of any school.

Jorge Monzon and Elizabeth Rodero founded the winery only in 2010 after Jorge spent years selling his produce to ‘several high profile neighbors’. They have definitely separated themselves from the pack in a very good way and 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 this.

The wines are the brainchild of Dominio di Aguila, and he labels them ‘Picaro del Aguila’, the term Picaro making reference to someone as a ‘rascal’ or a ‘rogue’. The playful nature of the program belies how serious these folks are about what they do and the clarity and purpose of their vision. The winemaking is purposeful and innovative, but ultimately all of the serious winemaking goes to produce wines that are, ultimately, ‘fun to drink’

We first profiled Domino del Aguila last year with the tasty and rather eye-opening 2015 version. The ‘recipe’, if you will, relies heavily on the appropriate clone of Tempranillo. But he has chosen some rather unusual bedfellows for this part of the world including Grenache, Bobal, a varietal we associate more with Valencia to the southeast, and Albillo, the rare, indigenous white of the Ribera. Put them all together (del Aguila actually co-ferments them) and what do you get. As we described the 2015, you get a Ribera with its ‘party hat’ on. The 2015 went on to get 92+ points and a small novelette from Advocate’s Luis Guttierrez.

The 2016 walks the same line, scored higher and is clearly an even more complete effort. 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 area, probably due to the inclusion of the white grapes in the fermentation a la Cote Roties in the northern Rhone. Gushing mulberry and cassis flavors abound but there’s a streak that is like a marinated black cherry and more expressive floral elements to the aromatics that announce this is no garden variety Ribera.

The viticulture and winemaking here are more than serious. The vines, somewhere north of 50-years-old, are farmed organically/biodynamically, The grapes are trodden by foot before being put in French oak for malo-lactic fermentation and a sojourn in wood (though there is no obvious wood in the flavors). The vineyards here are north-facing, which give the wine a little cooler profile to begin with and affords the grapes a little more hang time. The fruit notes have a certain ‘wild’ character, a more lifted personality that doesn’t sit heavy on the palate, and an effusive spiciness. The Dominio del Aguila Picaro Ribera del Duero Vinas Viejas 2016 is a gregarious, slippery, tasty and, yes, fun beverage.

Advocate’s Gutierrez went off again, “The youngest of the released wines I tasted is a red—the 2016 Pícaro del Águila Tinto. It is from what they consider to be one of the best and freshest vintages in recent times. This is produced with the vines from the warmer parts of La Aguilera, a cold place to start with (and in a cooler year). The old vines are planted with a mix that is dominated by Tempranillo but also contains some 5% other grapes. All the grapes are picked and fermented together with full clusters and natural yeasts in concrete and stainless steel vats. It matured in oak barrels for 13 months.

“This is fragrant, expressive, open, aromatic and really attractive. The palate is really balanced, with great freshness, fine tannins and a very pleasant mouthfeel—supple, balanced and with great depth. This is the best version of this bottling so far…” Juicy, well-meshed (it was quite engaging on day two as well), well-priced and versatile, all done in a style all its own, the eagle (aguila is Spanish for ‘eagle) has landed.

Mauro’s Very Special V.S.

As has been obvious over the years, we are huge fans of Spanish wines. We love the dusty plum fruit of an old Rioja and the opulence of an old vine Garnacha that tastes like a new twist on Chateauneuf. But we also understand that these are unique flavor profiles that might take a little getting used to for someone accustomed to the straightforward, in-your-face blast of fruit from a top flight Napa Cabernet. Well here we are going to present an immensely impressive wine that not only will pander to the hedonists who like a lot of engaging flavor up front, and purists who don’t mind modern styling provided the wine still has the trappings of classic Spanish reds, but save folks money who think you have to pay $150+ to get something truly special.

Mariano Garcia, winemaker at Vega Sicilia for about a couple of decades, is the force behind Bodegas Mauro. This is an exceptional performer in the somewhat less defined Tierra de Castillo y Leon, sort of the outskirts of Ribera del Duero. His ‘regular’ bottling were one of the eye opening efforts that really got us into Spanish wines back in the early 90s, and some of his reserve bottlings have been epic for their genre in the same way that certain producers have become iconic for Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Napa Valley.

This particular wine is a ‘modern’ reserve, meaning that the eye here is on making the best wine possible while no being confined to the guidelines of traditional nomenclature which carry certain rules that winemakers might find a little confining. This wine is not made every year and comes mainly from two plots of older vineyards. The wine was bottled in March, 2017 after spending 26 months in a combination of French and American oak.

The scents of smoke, vanilla, and chocolate harmonize beautifully with the classic cassis and plum fruit character of this 100% Tempranillo. The entry is cool and authoritative with the intensity and dimension of the oak fused with the sleek, polished palate. This is on par with any Classified Growth Bordeaux and we’d make the comparison with a ‘trophy’ Napa Cabernet except that the Mauro Tierra de Castillo y Leon V.S. 2014 is more harmonious and refined than most New World reds we can think of. Packed with flavor, this plays on many levels. You can delve into the wine’s sweet and savory complexity for an engaging intellectual exercise, or you can just sit back and let the intense, layered, toasty, chocolaty flavors roll across the palate.

This is very serious wine that, while it is true to its genre, doesn’t expect you to cross the line to appreciate the context. There’s plenty of well-heeled but intense flavor to make quite an impression. Yeah, 2014 was a problematic vintage in some parts of Europe. But clearly not in the Ribera/Castillo y Leon or a wine of this magnitude would not have been possible. This to us is that ‘crossover wine’ that will give Bordeaux and Cabernet drinkers a whole new perspective. Killer juice here, this wine just arrived and, while this has not been reviewed, this series has averaged 95 in Wine Advocate over the last several vintages. This is definitely one of the best versions of the V.S..

The Ribera’s Ravishing ‘Rogue’

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? The answer apparently is…yes!

Dominio del Aguila Picaro Ribera del Duero 2015 definitely operates outside the box for an area like the Ribera. Sure you’ve got your Tempranillo here, the backbone grape of the region, but Aguila co-ferments it 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.

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 area. Gushing berry and cassis flavors but also a streak that is like a marinated black cherry to let you know that this is no ordinary Ribera.

The winemaking is more than serious with the vine age here somewhere north of 50-years-old, farmed organically/biodynamically, trodden by foot before being put in French oak for malo-lactic fermentation and a sojourn of 12-20 months in wood (though there is no obvious wood in the flavors). 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 tasty and, yes, fun.

We aren’t the only fans either. This juicy, unique red got high marks from two very different palates, James Suckling (95 points) and Advocate’s Luis Gutierrez (92+ points). Suckling’s words were concise, if jubilant, “This has impressive fragrance and aromatic detailing with bright cherry and red plum fruits, cinnamon and sappy notes. The palate has vivid fleshy fruit that floats amid filigree tannins, anchoring it precisely in place. A great wine.”

Among Luis’ extensive comments, “…This is a fresh interpretation of 2015. I wish more Crianzas from Ribera del Duero had this joviality and approachability while keeping the balance and the serious quality profile.” Sadly, there isn’t enough of the 2015 to have too much market impact as yet. Get yours while you can.

They make a very cool ‘rogue’ rosé as well called Dominio di Aguila Picaro Clarete 2014 as well, intended to be released with bottle age. A blend of red and white wine (rather than a saignee), this is an attention getter.

PAGO DE LOS CAPELLANES RIBERA DEL DUERO JOVEN 2015

PAGO DE LOS CAPELLANES RIBERA DEL DUERO JOVEN 2015

Darned if a couple of days before the Jan 31-Feb 28 Wine Spectator showed up, the latest version of the Tinto Joven from Pago de los Capellanes (2015) hit the floor. What was interesting was that, in an article titled “Editor’s Picks: 30 Wineries to Trust”, one of the 30 was Capellanes. Actually we, and you, learned to ‘trust’ these guys a long time ago. If memory serves we started what has been a long relationship with this bodega with the 1998 Joven, and sold their wines for years before Spectator, or anybody else, talked about them at all.

There have been some grand versions over the years, particularly at the Crianza and Reserva levels. But we can’t wait to see what those are like in 2015 because this Joven is more exciting than any of this Joven series that we have tasted since the beginning. It’s that darned 2015 vintage again we suspect. The gushing fruit, telltale juiciness, and gregarious flavors really put this rendition on another level.

The ‘jovens’, for those not familiar with the nomenclature, are a wineries entry level bottling, usually the first to market with a minimum of barrel time (or in some cases ‘none’). This one is 100% Tempranillo from the winery’s proerty in the Pederosa del Duero subsection. The soils here are chalk and clay which infuses all of their wines with a distinctive underpinning of minerality. The fruit component usually ranges from dark cherry to plum and, only in very special vintages, reaches into the blue fruit profiles. Sometimes these can be a little reticent out of the gate, typical of Tempranillo in its youth. But this one already has a juicy demeanor and shows off a surprisingly lush fruit core. It’s only going to get better.

They polish this one in new French oak for five months to smooth the edges and infuse a little vanilla highlight. This is way too easy to drink and one heck of an all-purpose mouthful for this kind of tab. This Joven will be a real eye-opener for those that are trying Capellanes for the first time, like that ’98 was for us so many years ago, only better. A lot of you already know the house, and the 2015 is mas delicioso. . . $16.98