Ribera Del Duero Tempranillo Vall Sanzo 2005 is produced from rich Tempranillo grapes from the most prestigious region of Spain. It's hard to find a Ribera Del Duero Tempranillo at an affordable price, but our closeout price makes it impossible to pass up. This red wine has a cherry red color with purple shades and a glint of ruby, with an intensive robe. It has complex aromas and taste of dark wild berries, spices and chocolate. It is very balsamic and elegant. With its noble and pithy tannins, this wine has great aging potential. The very prominent aftertaste has surprising persistence. Valsanzo uses cold maceration before the alcoholic fermentation and for a period of no less than 5 days. The fermentation is with autochthonal yeast with the aim of respecting the personality of the vineyard "Pago El Carril". Subsequent to a maceration of at least 21 days, the wine is racked and filled into the barrique barrels to prepare for the malolactic fermentation. Three varieties of oak are employed: the French oak for elegance, the Hungarian oak for its balsamic touch and the Spanish oak for character and pithy tannins. The aging time in new barriques is between 12 and 14 months. Thereafter, it rounds off in bottle during a period of no less than 6 months before being brought to market. It pairs well with all kinds of meat, whether grilled or stewed, and is a perfect partner of lamb and roast suckling pig. It goes along excellently with rich dishes and comports divinely with sheep cheese. Drink this Ribera Del Duero Tempranillo by 2014.

The Valsanzo family has been involved in winemaking for a few generations, making their classic Spanish wines in Nava del Rey which, following aging in the barrel, are transferred to it in demijohns. They make the same great wines from grapes cultivated in different regions of Spain. Their Tempranillo wines are part of the winemaking history of the region, but there are only a few winemakers left who still keep alive the art of these fine red wines. In this wine they use the grapes from Ribera Del Duero to make the wines demanded by modern-day consumers, while respecting the utmost expression of the grape variety and the terroir. This vineyard has developed through different erosive processes affecting terrigenous materials, consisting of sand, clay and loam, with local conglomeratic accumulations (limestone, igneous or metamorphic rock). Situated in Roa de Duero and planted in 1978, their fields exclusively consist of Tinto Fino Tempranillo.

RATINGS: 81 Points - 04/01/2008
"....young wine...earthy specimen with burnt notes..."