I just completed a quick series of visits and tastings in Rioja and Ribera del Duero and the buzz there, as in most of Europe’s wine-producing regions, is all about 2009. Some Ribera producers have already bottled stainless steel wines made from young vines and I was able to taste a couple dozen of them. While such bottlings give only a glimpse of what the serious wines will be like when they are released a couple years or more down the road, the hype seems to be justified. The young wines I sampled are full of sweet ripe fruit but also have more than enough acidity to keep them lively.
Few early-bottled Ribera del Duero wines can deliver the bang for the buck that other Spanish growing regions like Jumilla or Yecla offer, but in a vintage at the quality level of 2009 there will be some exceptions to that rule. A few wines that will be arriving here soon give a snapshot of the vintage: try the 2009 Bodegas Portia Ribera del Duero Roble (Palm Bay International), which got a brief stay in some oak barrels and shows vibrant, attractively sweet dark fruit character, and the racy 2009 Bodegas Torremorón Ribera del Duero (Olé Imports), which emphasizes zesty red berry fruit. Also look for the 2009 Bodegas Balbás Ribera del Duero Roble (Heritage Wines), which also spent a bit of time in oak barrels and shows appealing, spicy dark fruit flavors.
Due to inconsistent weather conditions in both 2007 and 2008, most of the wines from these vintages are relatively high in acidity, which can be a good thing if there’s sufficient depth of balancing fruit. Unfortunately, when you taste past the most conscientious producers, who have old vines in the best locations and the financial cushion that enables them to make severe selections in the vineyard, at the sorting table and in the cellar, quality can be patchy. Spanish wine-lovers who shy away from overly rich and ripe wines will find plenty to like in 2008 and 2007 but will need to be realistic about the potential longevity of these wines. Aside from some special cases, most Riojas and Ribera del Dueros from these two vintages aren’t likely to reward extended cellaring, so I’d be buying with short- to mid-term drinking in mind.
Extensive coverage of new releases from Spain will appear in the International Wine Cellar in the coming months.
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