Hacienda Monasterio Ribera del Duero Reserva Especial 2009 750ml

The 2009 Reserva Especial usually contains about one fourth of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes that are blended with the Tempranillo. It’s only produced when they have lots of wine that they think have a different personality and are worth bottling separately. In the warm, ripe 2011, it was 22% Cabernet, all of it from their slope, head-pruned vineyards planted 25 years ago on chalky soils at 800 meters altitude in the vicinity of Pesquera de Duero, one of the most famous wine villages in the Valladolid part of Ribera del Duero. The grapes were fermented with indigenous yeast with 6% full-clusters. Malolactic fermentation was carried out in barriques and the wine aged for 20 months in new and French oak barrels. 2009 is a vintage that compares with 1995 – powerful and ripe. This Reserva Especial shows a big compromise between power and elegance, it’s ripe and full, but within very good harmony. The palate is full-bodied, a little austere, with plenty of tannins, and I can still feel the barrel a little. This is still young and unevolved, and should age well, but I feel it will ripen faster than 2010. Only 5,800 bottles were produced. Drink 2014-2020.