This is Tempranillo? Could have fooled me....

WINE TALK
1

We just tasted the full range from Joven to Reserva of three different Ribera del Duero producers and they were ALL nearly black, quite bitter, tannic as hell, devoid of fruit and just plain nasty.

If given these wines blind I would call them as being Tannat, Petite Sirah or maybe Sagrantino from looking at the color and they had NO relationship to the style of Ribera that our customers for that DO would be looking for (especially the Brits)…AND they were more expensive.

WHAT up wit’ dat and who is the market?

2

I’ve always thought of Ribera as the more masculine Tempranillo but I agree with you. Most are just too dense. More like Syrah than Tempranillo. I haven’t found that many that I am crazy about.

3

What were the wines?

4

Samples from a medium sized Spanish Export Group. I don’t want to prejudice them with any other possible importer so I will not name names. But I just don’t understand who buys these wines and / or who tells them that this is what they should make.

5

FWIW, I’ve enjoyed the following, many of which I assume are similar to the wine you’re talking about, Roberto:

2003 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Rioja Colección Privada
2004 Bodegas LAN Rioja Edición Limitada
(the above two both got a 95 from me … i’ve never scored above a 95)
2004 Pago de los Capellanes Ribera del Duero Crianza
2004 Matarredonda Toro Juan Rojo
2005 Bodega Numanthia Termes Toro Termes

Roberto, do any of these wines fall into the category of which you are speaking?

6

No, those wines are bigger and phatter and have some fruit to balance that. These were all just BLACK and tannic and shrill for no apparent reason. Most disappointing day of sample tasting in a long time. Tomorrow we are going up to SF for a Português wine fair where I am hoping for both more diversity and some value.

7

hmmm … sounds pretty gross. [nea.gif] i can’t imagine the ones i mentioned being any good without the fruit … i suppose if i read your initial post more carefully i would have seen “no fruit” … my bad. [foilhat.gif]

8

do you see any future potential in what you tasted? … regardless of the fact they don’t seem true to Tempranillo

9

Most of those are pretty big wines. The Capellanes being I would think will be pretty good in many years. Could satisfy a multitude of palates.

10

LOVE Pago de Capellanes. Their “Joven” is quite a nice little drink. Unfortunately, for some reason, their prices are quite out of line in comparison to other well-reviewed Riberas.

11

Really? WineX usually has it in the mid $30’s which I think is fair for the quality. Looks like they have the Reserva for $40 and the Crianza for $28 currently. Compared to other sky rocketing prices in that region for big fruit bomb wines I would say they are showing some restraint in both style and pricing. Though I will grant I think the reserva was only around $26 as few as 5 years ago.

12

You’re right Cris. Not that far out of line I guess. Maybe I was mentally comparing it to Riojas which offer a little more QPR than Riberas. [shrug.gif]

13

I’m with you there. [cheers.gif]

14

agree about the Cappellanes being a very nice wine … i would advise not touching that wine for at least a couple more years