Ribera del Duero: the Tempranillo terroir technique

Ribera del Duero, Castilla y León, Spain

Spain's most dramatic red wine region — the Duero valley at 800-900 metres elevation, where extremes of temperature (up to 50°C diurnal range in summer) and the continental climate produce Tempranillo (called Tinto Fino or Tinto del País locally) of extraordinary colour, tannin, and concentration. The wines of Ribera del Duero have been internationally significant since Vega Sicilia was awarded gold at the 1929 Barcelona World Exhibition — and the region now contains some of Spain's most ambitious and expensive red wines. The Ribera del Duero style is darker, more tannic, more muscular than Rioja — less vanilla-oak, more dark fruit and mineral. The soil is chalk and limestone (similar to Burgundy), and the altitude produces a long ripening season with intense UV and cool nights that preserves acidity.

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