Bela Ribera del Duero 2023 750ml

A young wine from a special clay-soiled plot in Villalba De Duero, the 2023 Bela is a full-bodied, fruity, and refreshing 100% Tempranillo. Brimming in bright red cherry, strawberry, and raspberry, it aged nine months in barrel, all French, 70% new, with another six months in bottle. The long finish and burly tannins speak to long ageability, 10-15 years.

The 2023 Bela, produced with their grapes from Villalba de Duero (mentioned on the label), was also cropped from a dry year with high temperatures and a harvest that started on September 20, but after the experience of 2022, they were more prepared for it. The rain in early September resulted in contained alcohol, good freshness and balance in the wines. The grapes were harvested into 300-kilogram harvest bins and fermented in stainless steel. This matured in French oak barrels for nine months and comes in at 14.3% alcohol, a pH of 3.72 and five grams of acidity. It sets the tone for the winery—serious and austere wines far away from the excess ripeness, extraction and oak. It's powerful, with the character of the wines from the 1980s and early 1990s, what I consider classical Ribera del Duero. It's floral, fruit-driven and juicy, with fine tannins. This is a champion in drinkability. 75,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2024.

High intensity cherry-red cherry color with purple notes in the border. Aromatic complexity where we find floral notes and red fruit such as currant, raspberry, etc. All this softened and complemented by fine notes of sweet spices and the nuances of the wood from the barrel (vanilla, clove). It is a wine of passage marked by a tasty tannin and with personality, the end of mouth takes us to a long and fruity aftertaste with a final minerality that confers elegance and finesse.