Terroir and Tradition Point Ribera del Duero to the Future

Ribera del Duero is known for its big, bold and oaky reds – highly concentrated wines made primarily from tempranillo grapes that come with elevated alcohol levels and abundant tannins and often require extended aging both before and after release. Yet a change is underway among a small but influential group of young winemakers who are crafting more drinkable wines that draw inspiration from Ribera del Duero’s past while reimagining present styles.

I spent a week in Ribera del Duero this summer tasting and visiting wineries with my colleague, Senior Editor Jacobo García Andrade. We tasted approximately 220 wines during our visit, or half of the 440 wines we sampled from the region over the past year. While Ribera del Duero remains relatively conservative in its approach to winemaking, variations within it are becoming more pronounced.

The establishment of Ribera del Duero as a Denominación de Origen (DO) in Spain in 1982 marked a pivotal transition for the region in its shift toward a modern identity – one placing quality before bulk winemaking of the light, clarete wines the region was known for before the bolder style took hold. Since that time, the number of commercial wineries has surged to over 300 from just 10. The boom has been fueled by outside investment, the success of iconic Ribera names such as Vega Sicilia and Dominio de Pingus and a market eager for more critical recognition. Today, Ribera del Duero wines rank alongside those from Priorat as some of Spain’s most expensive, although there are still plenty of clunky bottles from Ribera del Duero that have a hard time justifying their premium price tags.

With about 95 percent of its vineyards comprised of tempranillo and nearly a tenth of these over 80 years old, with some coveted terroirs underpinned by a base of limestone soil, Ribera del Duero seems primed for making concentrated, ageworthy wines. The continental climate of the region, characterized by warm days and cool nights, as well as the elevated vineyards – most sit between 700 to 1,000 meters – also give tempranillo a boost, although many of the wines made here require extended aging in oak barrels to soften the tannins and let the relatively high alcohol levels settle.

Although this contemporary style sharply contrasts with the lighter wines that dominated Ribera del Duero’s past, it can also result in wines with overly woody flavors and dry tannins – sometimes a result of excessive manipulation. And the impact of climate change can clearly be seen in recent vintages, especially the dry and hot 2022, which produced many wines with alcohol levels exceeding 15 percent.

Despite the stylistic shift occurring here, Ribera del Duero remains a largely conservative area resistant to fundamental change – not unlike other inland regions of Spain – although the new generation of winemakers is trying to break the mold.

“It is a different mindset, but the younger generations who have traveled more are the ones now bringing changes,” said Eduardo Eguren, the winemaker and owner of the Cuentaviñas winery in Rioja, which also makes some wines in Ribera del Duero.

It is also worth noting that more than 80 percent of the wines made in Ribera del Duero are sold domestically, according to the Ribera del Duero Regulatory Council, making the region's push for transformation difficult to justify amid such success at home. Why change what works?

However, many younger winemakers realize that an evolution toward more balanced, higher-quality wines needs to occur if overseas demand is to be met. And in Ribera del Duero, doing less in winemaking can often bring out more in the wine.

In Ribera del Duero, “we may have an excess in color, concentration and tannins,” said Pinea winemaker David Ayala. “What we truly need are fluidity and finesse.”

Pinea, which was founded in 2014, mostly makes conventional and very opulent wines but it is now gravitating toward a more pristine and transparent style, as exemplified by its new project, Korde.

I was impressed by its Pinea Ribera del Duero Korde El Castillo Peñaranda de Duero 2023, which comes from an old, small vineyard planted in 1916. It’s a field blend that incorporates many varieties but is based on tempranillo. Ayala says that this new wine reflects his philosophy of making wines that are more “fit and defined” rather than muscular.

Depth and Agility

In Sotillo de la Ribera, Noelia Callejo of her family's Bodegas Felix Callejo is also championing terroir and precision over oak and the status quo. Once centered on its Gran Reserva, the winery now leads with wines that emphasize site. The flagship Felix Callejo blends fruit from Medioarroyo and Montecillo, vineyards known for their sandy, limestone-rich soils that lend finesse to the wines born from them.

The 2023 vintage reflects this philosophy, balancing depth and agility with chalky tannins and restrained detail. Callejo explains: “We also work on the foliage to protect the fruit from excessive sunlight. The cover crop we left reduces the yield, and it helps us harvest a bit early to get crunchy fruit, better tension and a bit lower alcohol.”

Despite 2023’s challenges – sporadic spring frosts, a hot dry summer, and September rains – many wines show promising balance, with lower alcohol, supple acidity and softer tannins. This contrasts with the concentrated, tannic 2022s.

Alvaro Trigueros of Finca Villacreces said 2022 was “way hotter” than 2023, noting the floral freshness of the latter vintage – a profile that indicates a vintage veering back to balance, even though most wines from 2023 don’t possess the depth of the 2021, a year that combines freshness, structure and intensity.

At Vega Sicilia, technical director Gonzalo Iturriaga was less enthusiastic: “I think in 2023, cooler and higher places could make good wines.” Still, he considers 2021 “the Rock & Roll vintage” – a benchmark for freshness, structure, and intensity, as seen in the Vega Sicilia Valbuena 5 2021, which is probably the best rendition of the wine we have ever tasted. Iturriaga anticipates that 2024 will mirror the quality and style of 2021, suggesting a trend toward cooler, fresher wines despite the challenges of spring frosts and hailstorms which reduced yield.

Conversely, Iturriaga bluntly called 2022 the worst vintage he has faced: “It was an upside-down year where we had to start picking from the cooler east and higher altitudes since they were less impacted by the heat and drought despite the shorter growing season.”

Nonetheless, the standout wines from 2022 reveal a depth balanced by good freshness and complexity. Check out wines like the Ausàs Ribera del Duero Interpretación 2022, a solid, structured reflection of the vintage by former Vega winemaker Xavier Ausàs that still shows good balance despite higher alcohol. Wines like Marta Maté Ribera del Duero Los Perejiles 2022 showcase a captivating interplay of finesse and power. Rising-star winemaker Michael Zaccagnini’s Sei Solo Ribera del Duero 2022 also impressed with striking depth of fresh black fruit framed by a great quantity of quality tannins. The wine benefits from balanced but low-yielding old vines in La Horra, with a focus on fine extraction and aging in 600-liter French barrels with sophisticated toasting.

Some winemakers see solutions in the past. Field blends of tempranillo with garnacha, bobal, albillo, and other grapes are helping temper alcohol and tannins while honoring tradition.

In Gumiel de Mercado, a small town in northern Burgos, the young winemaking brothers Rodrigo and Asier Calvo are leading one of the most exciting and transformative projects in Spain, Casa Lebai, alongside their family business, Bodegas Arrocal. Their mission centers on the better understanding of Gumiel’s vineyards and the revitalization of its historic winemaking tradition.

Among their most impressive initiatives is a project restoring 18th-century lagares – granite tanks in which grapes are foot-trodden – where they now make wines that challenge the conventional expectations from Ribera del Duero.

One of their lagares-crafted wines is the Casa Lebai Ribera del Duero Matadiablos 2022, which distinguishes itself with its unexpectedly elegant, bright profile, underscoring purity and transparency with an al dente texture. Their white wine, Casa Lebai Ribera del Duero La Nava 2022, which blends abillo mayor, pirules and castellana blanca, is equally impressive and shouldn’t be missed.

While the tradition of crafting clarete in Ribera del Duero is rich and storied, the region produces a limited number of rosés or light reds, even though their potential is huge. Some great examples are the Milsetentayseis Ribera del Duero La Peña 2023 and the field-blend, clarete-style Pinea Ribera del Duero Korde Rosado 2023.

The biodynamic Finca Torremilanos Castilla y León El Porrón de Lara 2023, which bears the broader Castilla y Leon denomination, is another exciting rosé or light red that pays a tribute to the traditional porrón wines, which are all about clarity, brightness and drinkability.

In the eastern frontier of Ribera del Duero, scarcity defines quality. At Dominio de Es, Bertrand Sourdais and David Hernando craft minuscule productions, including La Diva 2023 – just 391 bottles from a 0.35-hectare pre-phylloxera plot, priced at over $700. Nearby, Dominio de Atauta tends more than 50 hectares of ungrafted vines over 120 years old, producing wines of power and depth.

“There are now around 50 residents in the village of Atauta, mostly the elderly,” said Jaime Suarez, the head winemaker at Dominio de Atauta, underscoring the fragile future of these vineyards. And yet their Dominio de Atauta Ribera del Duero Valdegatiles Single Vineyard 2019, made from pre-phylloxera vines over 120 years old, highlights richness, power and structure.

The contrast between east and west could not be starker. In the west, global recognition has been built on polished, age-worthy icons like Vega Sicilia. In the east, small producers focus on ancestral vines and terroir, often producing wines for a niche audience.

This tension—between the polished prestige of the west and the raw authenticity of the east—is what makes Ribera del Duero dynamic. One face of the coin is well known to the world; the other is only now being revealed.

– Zekun Shuai, Senior Editor

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated by the JamesSuckling.com tasting team. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. 

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