DO Ribera del Duero is an increasingly interesting place to discover wine. Like many Spanish wine regions, it seems to be coming into a phase of maturity, where the two worlds of tradition and modernity have resolved their differences and styles are starting to settle, with interesting projects splintering off, often falling somewhere between the two.

The first real wine to ever completely hook me was a Tomas Postigo 2010, so I know full well the feeling of how alluring the bold, modern style of Ribera del Duero can be, although the high levels of alcohol and heavy, fruit profile became a touch tiresome as I started to drink more broadly. At the same time, the old school classicists had their own problems. Pesquera seems to have only just started resolving a brettanomyces problem that made their wines smell a touch too horsey for even my brett-resilient palate, whilst Vega Sicilia becomes more expensive year by year, pushing it further out of reach of even occasional drinking. The result is, this middle ground is where I’ve made some of the most fun discoveries of the last couple of years, including some wines that have squeezed themselves into the small amount of space I have to store wine for the long haul.

One such is the flagship wine of Dominio de Atauta, a winery founded in some of the higher, cooler reaches of Ribera del Duero in 2000. Slightly ahead of their time, they seemed to realise the need for moderation and with 15 hectares of land in the cooler, wind-swept Atauta Valley at 1,000m above sea level, they have the perfect ingredients for it. The cooler than normal temperatures and pronounced diurnal range allow for a long, slow ripening process that retains the all-important natural acidity, whilst slowing developing flavours and aromas. The vineyards are amongst the oldest in the region, some well over 100 years old, which means that the vines are quite content to naturally produce very low, concentrated yields without provocation.

There’s a common expression in wine that ‘wine is made in the vineyard’. Whilst I don’t fully endorse this philosophy, it’s certainly true that you don’t need to add too much to a wine if it’s falling into such a natural position by itself, and with the exception of 40% new oak for the maturation period in barrel, the winemakers at Dominio de Atauta take a fairly hands off approach. The result is a very complete bottle of Tempranillo that will take years to really come to maturity, but it’s hard not to open a bottle now, as it really is delicious in a very intense way. If I can continue to win the war against the increasingly warm Barcelona summers and not succumb to temptation myself, I probably won’t open another bottle until 2022 at the earliest!

Tasting Note
100% Tempranillo from prephylloxeric, 120-140 year old vines in the Atauta Valley. Fermented in a mixture of different containers before ageing for 16 months in 40% new French oak, again of different sizes. 14% ABV

There’s not even a suggestion of deviation or ageing in the colour of this wine; deep and brooding in the glass! Very aromatic and still so primary at 4 years of age, with vibrant, ripe black cherries and plums, graphite, violets and surprisingly discreet notes of vanilla and toast. The palate is so dense and primary, it would take a brave critic to correctly guess the ageing potential of this wine! Really supple and fresh despite the fruit concentration, and I suspect this will mold together beautifully in the next 10 years. Despite that, it’s quite delicious now and you’ll have a hard time keeping your hands off it! 93Pts

Purchased from Vinissimus for €25.85