2010 Hacienda Monasterio [Ribera del Duero] This is a big 15% abv wine made by the Dane Peter Sisseck, who also is known for being Pingus’s winemaker. Note that they no longer use the crianza/reserva recognition (He also had a new St Emilion estate, but I have yet to see/try any of those.) I’ve been enthusiastically throwing back H-M’s for more than 20 years even as my tastes - and the wines - have changed. Now, the blend is much more tempranillo driven, and with older vines, even better than it was in the 90’s. But with global warming, my feel is that the wines are bigger today, and the 2010 clock in at 15% abv on the label. Perhaps other years were at this level, but I just don’t recall it. Over two nights, my impressions are: bouquet of licorice, a touch hot. palate of currants and squishy plums, low acid. Tannins are maybe 2/3’s resolved - there is still some structure and drying mouthfeel - but its fine to drink by itself sans food. I’ve always liked the vintner, but I don’t think this estate age/develop as well as I used to think they would. My feel is that these chunkers develop positively to age 10, and after that, survive quite well on their backbone of fruit/density another 5-15 years, but one better like pruney notes as time goes on. First from a six pack. In a pleasing brown bottle too. B+ for me.
How have the wines changed? I haven’t really followed them.
I had several bottles of the 96 10-15 years ago that were nice but didn’t excite me. A 2001 Riserva Especiale two years ago seemed very modern and boring – utterly disappointing.
My impression over the years has been that the blend has become less international/French, and more Tempranillo, and has become a higher quality wine as the vines aged. But, my initial optimism about aging / complexity has not been matched by the bottles I’ve cellared. And - not that I can really pick out what a prototype RdD should be like - I don’t get any particular sense of place from them. But to be fair, I never did: the ones from a generation ago were like polished right banks; newer ones taste like good rich big wines without some regional calling card.
They make a lot of this (14k cases) and Eric Solomon ensures its widely available now, so perhaps others will chime in changes over time. I still buy it, when price and (my) vintage perception align, but not in the quantity of years ago. That’s true of a lot of stuff though!