Back when we visited this winery circa 2000, they showed us a large facility that was all gravity flow and had a suspended conveyor to drop the harvest straight into tanks from above. It was pretty clear that these folks, who had designed one of the most impressive cellars we had witnessed to that point, and clearly had spent serious money, were in it for the long haul. There wasn’t a vine on the property in 1991 but all was subsequently planted under the direction of former Ausone winemaker Pascal Delbeck based on a soils study done by Spanish terroir expert Vincente Sotes.
The 2016 Abadia Retuerta Sardon del Duero Seleccion Especial marks their estate’s 25th Anniversary and 20th bottling. In our minds, it is the best effort we can recall from this series. Yeah, we know folks hear that a lot, particularly given the notable performance of wines from the 2016 vintage in a variety of regions in Spain, France, and Italy. But to perhaps give the statement a little context, the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Abadia Retuerta bottlings made ‘three-peat’, back-to-back-to-back appearances on the Wine Spectator Top 100 in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively. We can’t remember saying that very often for any winery.
This 2016 Seleccion Especial displays the cohesive fruit, acidity, and ripe tannins that has marked the best of the vintage. Rich in the mouth, with polished edges, a creamy palate feel, yet fresh and lifted from front to back. Cassis and dark cherry fruit roll across the tongue with accents of damp earth and notes of chocolate. The finish is authoritative but soft and supple, the wine thoroughly engaging.
Luis Gutierrez of Wine Advocate shared our enthusiasm for this bottling, and we’d call your attention to the blend. Since the winery lies in the Sardon, just outside the confines of the Ribera del Duero, they had a bit more latitude with their varietal blends. It all appears to have worked out for the better.
From Wine Advocate, “Selección Especial is Abadía Retuerta’s reliable red blend produced in enough quantities to have good availability and with an approachable and easy-to-understand profile that reached great quality with the 2016 Selección Especial, from one of the best vintages in recent times in the region. It’s 75% Tempranillo, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Syrah, 3% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, a blend that can change with the conditions of the year, as it’s decided by tasting the wines. If in the past this wine was quite oaky, this 2016 feels quite integrated and balanced, ripe and medium-bodied, with a soft and tender palate, round tannins and moderate influence from the élevage of 13 months in French and American oak barrels. This comes from a cuvée of 1,675 barrels that produced wine to fill 453,000 bottles, 22,500 magnums and 1,100 double magnums. The quality is awesome for the volume produced…93 points.”
We have always said it takes talent to make exceptional wine. but it is more difficult to make a lot of exceptional wine. Hats off to them. The 2016 Abadia Retuerta Sardon del Duero Seleccion Esppecial drinks well now, but it should do nicely in the cellar for at least a decade.