Falstaff Magazin International 00/2021

wine / RIBERA DEL DUERO

wine / RIBERA DEL DUERO Bodegas Marta Maté‘s new winery building in Tubilla del Lago – also showing off the limestone soils. Old bush vines in Aranda del Duero. Photos:@ 2017 Gema Garcia Martin/Shutterstock, PacoSantamari, provided 46 falstaff summer 2021

has put Albillo Mayor into the spotlight of many winemakers once again. In the past, the field blends were also co-harvested and co-fermented into a kind of rosé wine which was called ojo de gallo, or eye of the chicken, due to its pale colour. Today, Sourdais always blends some Albillo Mayor into his wines, as a nod to this ancient tradition. Sourdais, who also founded Bodegas Antidoto, is an important figure for the region, especially considering that there are still too few young winemakers interested in preserving the old vines and traditions. Fresh wines and old vines are also a central part of Bodegas Marta Maté‘s concept – taking Ribera del Duero’s wine Marta Maté farms its vineyards with horses and according to biodynamic methods. Below: the Marta Maté team tasting. style even further. While the wines of Dominio de Es and Atauta show the outlines of elegance, they still set store by concentration and clear wood influence, Marta Maté’s wines, however, are a kind of revolution. “My wines are not typical of Ribera del Duero. They are fresh and different,“ says César Maté. He founded the Marta Maté project with six friends several years ago. Even before they started selling their first commercial vintage in 2008, they made wine from their single parcels in Gumiel de Mercado in the sub-zone of Burgos – at an altitude of 900m / 2,953ft. BACK TO THE ROOTS When Marta Maté released their Primordium wine in 2008, made from 100% Tinto Fino, aged for 18 months in new French oak, the wine received a 95-point-score from The Wine Advocate. Maté remembers how powerful and concentrated that wine was – a style they continued making until 2012. Today, Maté still ages the wine in 100% new French oak – but it matures for five years before its release to allow the wood influence to become more integrated. Maté now sees this wine as a reminiscence of the old Ribera del Duero – an absolutely valid style, coined by the monolith of the region, Vega Sicilia, and all the winemakers that trained there – but also as a relic of the past. César Maté says: We want to push the expression of minerality as far as possible, make it possible to taste the soil. Wood is a distraction. Yes there can be wood influence but it has to be subtle.“ Biodynamic farming methods play an important role for Maté. He wants to increase the microbial life of the soil and biodiversity. For years, he has also been on a quest for Tino Fino clones that are perfectly suited to local WE WANT TO PUSH THE EXPRESSION OF MINERALITY AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO TASTE THE SOIL. WOOD IS A DISTRACTION. CÉSAR MATÉ WINEMAKER conditions and retain acidity. He took cuttings from old vines across the region and leases old vine parcels which would otherwise disappear. In Maté’s view, the switch to higher altitude zones will be unavoidable for Ribera del Duero. There has been a stylistic shift in the kind of wines people want to drink – not least furthered by Spain’s top restaurants looking for fresher wines. Evolution is under way – and Ribera del Duero is changing. < summer 2021 falstaff 47