Tinto Pesquera Ribera del Duero D.O. Crianza 2018

Produced by Familia Fernández Rivera, Tinto Pesquera is one of benchmark product of Ribera del Duero D.O. appellation. The wine was given this name in honour of Pesquera de Duero, the town where the winery is located, and birthplace of the founders, including the famed winemaker Alejandro Fernández. For quite some years now, Tinto Pesquera is the gold standard for wines from this region.

The appellation Ribera del Duero is located on the elevated northern plateau of the Iberian Peninsula, from 750 meters above sea level. Ribera del Duero means “bank of the Duero”, and the river indeed divides the region. It also provides the local vineyards with a much-needed water supply. And it flows further west into Portugal, where it took the name “Douro”, which nourishes another world of famous wines including Port.

The Ribera del Duero has relatively low precipitation, on average about 450 mm per year. The area is exposed to quite extreme climatic conditions, long, dry summers with temperatures of up to 40 °C, are followed by hard winters during which temperatures often come close to freezing temperatures. There are also marked variations in temperature within each season. The climate is mainly continental, with limited Maritime influence, usually has more than 2,400 hours of annual sunlight.

The region has been a D.O. appellation since 1982, now has over 22000 hectares of vineyards planting, one of fastest growing appellations in Spain, also amongst the highest in quality. Rumor since 2008, says the region was about to become Spain’s 3rd DOCa level appellation after Rioja and Priorat.

Wines made under the appellation of Ribera del Duero are exclusively red, and Tinto Fino, a local variation of Tempranillo occupies the far majority of wine composition. Comparing to Tempranillo of Rioja and Navarra, local Tinto Fino has thick skin, and often smaller berries, thus usually yields wines with deeper purplish colour, and more intense aroma, tannin.

2018 vintage Tinto Pesquera Crianza is made from 100% Tinto Fino or local Tempranillo. The grapes are selected from 200 hectares of the family’s own vineyards located in Roa and La Horra, 800 metres altitude. Soils in the vineyards  are heterogeneous, mostly clay-loam with some limestone.

The year 2018 began with plentiful of spring rain. Vine vegetation growth was favoured by the mild temperatures and the water reserves in the soil, which led to considerably larger-sized berries. As a consequence of this increase in berry size, and despite higher than usual temperatures during September and October, the ripening process slowed. The harvesting stretched out until the end of October and produced an outstanding crop both in terms of quantity and quality. The absence of rainfall in the latter part of the growing season also ensured that healthy grapes were harvested. The 2018 was in fact the second largest crop on record, only surpassed by that of 2016.

The wine was aged 14 months in American oak barrels, then 6 months in bottle before being released onto the market. Due to the ripe fruit and influence from American oaks, the wine blooms with pleasant fresh aromatics with red berry fruit notes, such as raspberries, coming through along with balsamic hints. A serious wine to match with gourmet food, worth of careful ageing for better integration between fruitiness and oak.