Viña Magna Tempranillo Ribera del Duero Crianza 2017

The 2017 Dominio Basconcillos Viña Magna Crianza captures the eye with its deep ruby color. It quickly opens up with an elegant, sensuous bouquet of wild raspberry, strawberry, and aromatic cedar. In the mouth, the wine’s elegance and charm become more persuasive as the 2017 Viña Magna Crianza is supremely textured. Beautiful berry fruit, black currant, and plum notes quickly emerge on the palate, followed by hints of black pepper and tobacco, all wrapped in a veil of oak infused tannins. Concentrated but not harsh, the wine’s tannins add lift without scouring the mouth or obstructing the wine’s layered complexity. Although one does not have to wait long for the 2017 Viña Magna Crianza to open up, we suggest affording this flavorful wine 20-30 minutes of aeration before serving at cool room temperature (58°-62° F). Enjoy!

The 2017 Viña Magna Ribera del Duero Crianza is endowed with considerable flavor as well as plenty of polish and charm, which makes it ideal for pairing with a host of culinary delights. Hence, consider pairing this traditional Ribera del Duero with regional Spanish fare in addition to the finest cuts of lamb, beef, or pork. Roast veal or pork encrusted with black olive tapenade and capers provides an ideal accompaniment. Duck breast, prepared with a refined blackberry or cherry sauce offers another superb pairing. Venison, wild boar or a thick herb encrusted lamb chop, accompanied by a mushroom risotto, provides yet another sophisticated companion. Spain’s delicious Jamón Ibérico paired with a spicy bean or lentil dish also makes a good companion to the smooth, flavorful 2017 Viña Magna Crianza. In fact, almost any flavorful dish, including Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage, will be enhanced by Viña Magna’s comely Ribera del Duero Crianza Buen Provecho!

Dominio Basconcillos, the producer of Viña Magna, has emerged as one of the leading and most consistent producers of Ribera del Duero, Spain’s iconic red wine. This outstanding estate’s Viña Magna also marks a return to the traditional style of Ribera del Duero and high altitude organic viticulture that prevailed before the advent of phylloxera and the devastating effects of civil war and economic malaise that prevailed throughout Spain during much of the 20th century. In the late 1990s, Burgos native José Maria Basconcillos went in search of virgin land in Ribera del Duero on which he sought to establish one of Ribera del Duero’s leading organic vineyards. He found precisely what he was looking for in a private hunting property of 125 contiguous acres near Gumiel de Izán where he established Dominio Basconcillos. The property lies at the northernmost extreme of the Ribera del Duero appellation at 3,300 feet of elevation, which makes it one of the highest vineyards in the entire region and in a sector where the first monastic vineyards were planted centuries ago.

Today, Dominio Basconcillos is comprised of a modern state of the art bodega and chateau situated among the estate’s organically cultivated vines; all Dominio Basconcillos wines are Certified Organic. In addition to the estate’s strict organic practices, all grapes are harvested by hand, de-stemmed, and sorted three times before entering the gravity flow process as whole berries. Bordeaux-trained enologist Francisco Barona takes full advantage of the estate’s high altitude vineyard and pure fresh fruit to practice natural winemaking and fashion wines with exceptional concentration, freshness and balance.

Dominio Basconcillos fashions two very special Viña Magna wines from Ribera del Duero: Viña Magna Seis Meses, which receives 6 months of aging in a combination of new and used American and French oak barrels, and Viña Magna Crianza, the estate’s flagship wine. The Viña Magna Crianza enjoys a year or more in barrel and is Dominio Basconcillos’s most illustrious offering.

Located in the heart of Spain in the ancient realm of Castile and León, Ribera del Duero has been a center of wine production for thousands of years. Today, Ribera del Duero remains one of the most important wine regions in Spain, as it is the spiritual home of Tempranillo, Spain’s most venerable red grape variety, and the source of many of Spain’s greatest wines. Here the iconic Tempranillo, also known locally as Tinto Fino and Tinta del País, reaches its pinnacle and demonstrates to the world its inherent virtue.

Ribera del Duero occupies the hills and high meseta to the northeast of the city of Valladolid and stretches out along the Duero River, Spain’s most beloved waterway. Not surprisingly, the region draws its name from the venerable Duero that plays an important role in the region’s terroir. It seems that the soil of Ribera del Duero bears more than a passing resemblance to that of France’s Burgundy, with a wide range of chalk, clay, marl and gravel, combined together in varying degrees of prominence. However, whereas Burgundy’s soil complexity results from plate tectonics, the soil in Ribera del Duero results from the Duero’s erosion through the sedimentary layers of the Castilian meseta. The Duero River may likely play a role as well in moderating the rather harsh continental climate of the region, an area known for its dry, hot summers and cold winters. Add altitude (2,500-3,300 feet) and the intense luminosity of the Spanish meseta to the region’s exemplary terroir, and it becomes apparent that Ribera del Duero possesses all the attributes needed to showcase the beauty of Spain’s quintessential grape variety.

Although Tempranillo provides heart and soul to nearly all the wines of Ribera del Duero, the Denominacion de Origen (DO) does permit small quantities of other grape varieties to appear in the appellation’s red wines, most notably Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, and Grenache. There is, however, no requirement that Ribera del Duero contain any grape other than Tempranillo. Consequently, there is no one magic formula. However, what is certain is that world-wide demand for the great wines of Ribera del Duero will continue to grow as the cadre of astute producers in the zone continues to push the envelope on quality. Moreover, the relative value of the voluptuous red wines of Ribera del Duero is second to none. Allow the finest red wines of Ribera del Duero a few years in bottle and ample aeration prior to serving, and they will more than handsomely reward the patient imbiber.