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Discover Ribera del Duero

As part of our ongoing newsletter here at Sparkling Stemware, we thought it might be neat to always feature a particular wine appellation or region, give you some simple core information about that wine region and highlight some of its most prodigious producers. We are obviously passionate about our wine glasses but we are equally passionate about the wine that goes in them. By doing this, our staff gets to have some fun in the exploration and learning about some great wine regions and hopefully at the same time give you some consistent insight to keep your mind and wine game fresh!

So let's go! About 100 miles north of Madrid lies the region of Ribera del Duero (Rib-er-ah Del Dew-air-oh). The region is traversed by a river called the Duero. This is the same river that becomes the Douro in Portugal, a famous river-based region for the production of Port wine. At 2600 feet above sea level the nights stay very cool. In August, temperatures can reach 95 degrees at noon and drop to 40 degrees in the evening. It is this altitude and late harvest times (November harvests are not uncommon) which give the wines the typical concentration, dryness and intense color and frutiness.

The regions key grape is Tempranillo, referred to as Tinto Fino to natives. Although it has been tempting to import in grapes like Malbec and Cabernet, the region's producers have stayed true to Tinto Fino, greatly pursuing its perfection since the late 1970's. The one shining star of the region is the infamous Vega Sicilia. This estate mimicked the great Bordeaux estates in the late 1800's and does in fact use proportions of Bordeaux grapes (Malbec, Cabernet and Merlot) in its blends, but only to round out the Tinto Fino. Look for the superstar 10 year aged Vega Sicilia Unico and the 5 year aged Vega Sicilia Valbuena.

Great recent vintages include 1995, 1996, 2001 and 2004. Other top producers to look for include: Dominio de Pingus, Bodega Alion, Arzuaga Navarro and Pesquera.