2004 Bodegas Los Astrales Ribera del Duero Astrales- Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero (7/26/2009)
Great aromas of fruit and tastes of berries and chocholate. Tasted better after 45 minutes in the glass, will enjoy this over the next couple of days. Not even close to being in decline.
Very solid wine made by Eduardo García (Son of Vega Sicilia’s former winemaker Mariano García). At current pricepoint very hard to beat wine from the Ribera del Duero region.
Although the 2004 Astrales is drinking well now, the 2005 Astrales is drinking better at this moment. Most wines from the 2005 vintage from Ribera del Duero and Toro are showing better that their 2004 counterparts especially on the aromatics department.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, it’s the consensus now in the Ribera that the 2004s are developing more slowly than the 2005s, and will be longer-lived. Not to mention that the Los Astrales estate is in the upper reaches of the region, with a vineyard altitude of almost 3,000 feet, in a much cooler terroir, which tends to make the wines more backward when young - a trait they share with such estates as Montebaco and Dominio de Atauta.
I have also stated a few times that the 2004’s are developing more slowly than the 2005’s in Ribera and Toro.
Are the soils in Anguix (Astrales) similar to the ones in Atauta (Dominio de Atauta) and Valbuena de Duero (Montebaco)? Those three towns are very far apart geographically. Also a good amount of vines in Atauta predate phylloxera.
My experience with the wines from Dominio de Atauta is that they tend to be more Burgundian in style, less structured, more aromatic and approachable when young, than most other wines in Ribera del Duero.
The soils in Ribera del Duero are maddeningly varied, even within a small vineyard. The common point between the three estates is their altitude, up on the Castilian plateau, not down near the river. At Valbuena, there is a difference of some 400 feet between the Vega Sicilia and the Montebaco estates.