Or Ribera del Duero, to be precise.
The Duero is the river that rises in the centre of a high plateau in Northern Spain and runs through a bunch of quality wine producing regions before turning all Portuguese, changing its name to Duoro and becoming the heart and home of Port. It eventually reaches the Atlantic after somewhere in the region of 600 miles. We should be grateful for the Duero/Duoro because it helps to give us a great deal of good wine and, therefore, pleasure.
Week D (2015) Ribera del Duero, DOC. Tempranillo Reserva, 2009. Tesco £8.99
Tempranillo is one of my favourite red grapes and it appears quite widely across Spain, under a variety of pseudonyms, and elsewhere too. Its name means 'early ripener', or something close to that, and because it does ripen early it can tolerate a range of climates, hanging on a bit longer if needed or being picked early if the job is done.
It likes chalky soil, which is what we have in the Ribera del Duero region, where we also have high altitude that moderates the potentially fierce daytime sun and the combination gets the best out of this thick skinned beauty. That's not to say it doesn't do well elsewhere, like Rioja, but it does like life here.
It is rich deep red, with aromas a nd flavours or dark plums, blackberries, a hint of lighter red fruit and some spice. There's a gentle vanilla oak flavour and the finish is slightly warm, which given the claimed 14% abv is unsurprising. There is enough acidity and tannin to give it a robust structure and, similarly, medium to full body.
It is a wine that goes well with a nice bit of roast lamb or, perhaps, some cheddar cheese as long as it is the type of cheese that bites back.
As this wine is a 2009 Reserva, it has already had more ageing and time to develop than the majority of reds ever get. It is five and half years since the harvest and so many wines are either made to drink very young and would no longer feature on the wine wall at this age or they are made for cellaring and would be outside my usual budget. This habit of ageing the wines before release is one that the Spanish are very good at and I think it not only allows us to drink more interesting wine, but also provides it at a very reasonable price.
The Duero is the river that rises in the centre of a high plateau in Northern Spain and runs through a bunch of quality wine producing regions before turning all Portuguese, changing its name to Duoro and becoming the heart and home of Port. It eventually reaches the Atlantic after somewhere in the region of 600 miles. We should be grateful for the Duero/Duoro because it helps to give us a great deal of good wine and, therefore, pleasure.
Week D (2015) Ribera del Duero, DOC. Tempranillo Reserva, 2009. Tesco £8.99Tempranillo is one of my favourite red grapes and it appears quite widely across Spain, under a variety of pseudonyms, and elsewhere too. Its name means 'early ripener', or something close to that, and because it does ripen early it can tolerate a range of climates, hanging on a bit longer if needed or being picked early if the job is done.
It likes chalky soil, which is what we have in the Ribera del Duero region, where we also have high altitude that moderates the potentially fierce daytime sun and the combination gets the best out of this thick skinned beauty. That's not to say it doesn't do well elsewhere, like Rioja, but it does like life here.
It is rich deep red, with aromas a nd flavours or dark plums, blackberries, a hint of lighter red fruit and some spice. There's a gentle vanilla oak flavour and the finish is slightly warm, which given the claimed 14% abv is unsurprising. There is enough acidity and tannin to give it a robust structure and, similarly, medium to full body.
It is a wine that goes well with a nice bit of roast lamb or, perhaps, some cheddar cheese as long as it is the type of cheese that bites back.
As this wine is a 2009 Reserva, it has already had more ageing and time to develop than the majority of reds ever get. It is five and half years since the harvest and so many wines are either made to drink very young and would no longer feature on the wine wall at this age or they are made for cellaring and would be outside my usual budget. This habit of ageing the wines before release is one that the Spanish are very good at and I think it not only allows us to drink more interesting wine, but also provides it at a very reasonable price.
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