Falstaff Magazin International 00/2021

wine / RIBERA DEL DUERO

wine / RIBERA DEL DUERO Old bush vines in Valladolid, Ribera del Duero. Below: Bertrand Sourdais in the vineyard. < heralded a new generation of top producers who prefer the fruit from this elevated, cooler region and who created a new regional wine style that puts freshness and elegance centre stage. Today, Dominio de Atauta processes grapes from around 60 hectares/148 acres of vineyards, split across 600 different parcels of vines. Most of these still belong to the same families that have owned them for generations. The vines in these parcels are old – between 60 and 120 years. Around 90% of these vines pre-date the phylloxera crisis and are thus ungrafted, which is to say they grow on their own roots and are not grafted onto phylloxera resistant rootstocks. Even Dominio de Atauta’s entry-level wine is made from grapes grown on vines that are on average at least 60 years old. Dominio de Atauta achieved much wider fame with its single vineyard wine Llanos del Almendro from the 2002 vintage. In a blind tasting of 31 top wines from France and Spain, organised by the French wine critic Michel IN THE PAST, TINTO FINO AND ALBILLO MAYOR WERE TRADI- TIONALLY CO-PLANTED IN FIELD BLENDS, THE WHITE GRAPE TAKING BETWEEN 20–50% OF THE SHARE. Bettane, it took first place together with the 1994 vintage of Vega Sicilia, another star winery from Ribera del Duero. The 2002 vintage of Atauta’s Llanos del Almendro was made by French oenologist Betrand Sourdais. While working at Atauta he fell in love with the region and its ancient vineyards, so he leased 25 parcels on the Vale de Atauta himself – this was the birth of the Dominio de Es project: on just 3.5 hectares/8.6 acres he grows Tinto Fino and Albillo Mayor, a white grape variety. WHITE GRAPES FOR FRESHNESS In the past, Tinto Fino and Albillo Mayor were traditionally co-planted in field blends with the white grape taking between 20-50% of the share. From the 2019 vintage onwards, white wines have also been allowed to be sold under the denomination of Ribera del Duero – and this < Photos: mauritius images / Carlos Sánchez Pereyra, mauritius images / age fotostock / Juan José Pascual 44 falstaff summer 2021

Aldeadávila reservoir in the Los Arribes del Duero Natural Park. summer 2021 falstaff 45