Tempranillo is Spain's most widely planted red varietal and it's best known, featuring heavily in most wines from Rioja.
It's also a mainstay of Ribera del Duero, home of some of my favourite wines. As such, I was keen to try the newly stocked Ribera del Duero wine from local merchant and wine curator, Jo of Perfect Friday Wine.
At £11.50 per bottle and delivered locally, it had high expectations, given the region produces some of my favourite wines. If you're not in Jo's delivery catchment area, you can buy it for £11.99 from Forest Wines in East London, and other stockists around the city.
Jo writes in her introductory blog, "It’s super tangy and alive with blackberries a dash of cocoa and really well integrated tannin and acidity. I love it."
It's also a mainstay of Ribera del Duero, home of some of my favourite wines. As such, I was keen to try the newly stocked Ribera del Duero wine from local merchant and wine curator, Jo of Perfect Friday Wine.
At £11.50 per bottle and delivered locally, it had high expectations, given the region produces some of my favourite wines. If you're not in Jo's delivery catchment area, you can buy it for £11.99 from Forest Wines in East London, and other stockists around the city.
Jo writes in her introductory blog, "It’s super tangy and alive with blackberries a dash of cocoa and really well integrated tannin and acidity. I love it."
As. a "cosecha" wine, it's young and fresh rather than influenced by lots of expensive oak-aging, though it does have 6 months in older oak, which gives it both it's "Roble" name, and a bit more complexity than you'd expect from a cosecha/joven level Rioja. (Cosecha meaning harvest, joven meaning young - usually unbaked and released for early drinking.)
Bright fruit flavours are at the fore, with some hefty tannin that is smoothed out by the juicy acidity.
The winemaker's website describes it as "Aged a minimum of 6 months
in old French or American oak casks. Our traditional wine. Milú seeks to bring back the tastes of past years in a fresh and frisky sip of wine. A wine for everyday and for everyone..."
Bright fruit flavours are at the fore, with some hefty tannin that is smoothed out by the juicy acidity.
The winemaker's website describes it as "Aged a minimum of 6 months
in old French or American oak casks. Our traditional wine. Milú seeks to bring back the tastes of past years in a fresh and frisky sip of wine. A wine for everyday and for everyone..."
Rustic in style, it's organic and foot trod, and produced from rather old vines of the fresher "Tinta del Pais" clone of Tempranillo. (Note that many wines from Ribera del Duero won't mention Tempranillo, instead referring to local names such as this). As such, it's a true artisan product, a labour of love from a family winemaker in a "micro-winery". That explains why it costs a little more than your average young Rioja. The natural production is somewhat at odds with the natty, red plastic cork, but that's part of the light-hearted nature of this wine.
Is it worth it? Given the trend for "natural wine", this is a great find. A naturally and sustainably produced wine which packs a punch, in a world where many "natural wines" have tended to taste a little funky. My personal preference is for my Tempranillo based wines to have at least 12 months oak to smooth them out more, and impart some different spicy notes. I know that many of my readers don't like wine that tastes of trees, though, and this one will satisfy you alongside September barbecues, perhaps even slightly chilled, and well into the winter along with robust stews and casseroles.
My Purple Teeth have been kept clean by the summer whites, but after this, they are well and truly purple again!
Cheers!
Is it worth it? Given the trend for "natural wine", this is a great find. A naturally and sustainably produced wine which packs a punch, in a world where many "natural wines" have tended to taste a little funky. My personal preference is for my Tempranillo based wines to have at least 12 months oak to smooth them out more, and impart some different spicy notes. I know that many of my readers don't like wine that tastes of trees, though, and this one will satisfy you alongside September barbecues, perhaps even slightly chilled, and well into the winter along with robust stews and casseroles.
My Purple Teeth have been kept clean by the summer whites, but after this, they are well and truly purple again!
Cheers!
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