Critics reviews
Anthony Rose, The Independent, 3 August 2013
About this WINE
Bodegas Pago de los Capellanes
Pago de los Capellanes is located 1 kilometre from the village of Pedrosa de Duero, in the heart of the Ribera del Duero region and is considered by some to be the more modern face of Ribera Del Duero, providing a perfect counterpoint to the wonderfully traditional Vega Sicilia. It is owned by the Rodero-Villa family and they now have over 70 hectares of vineyards.
The name means ‘land of the chaplains’, a reminder that the land was owned by chaplains until the church donated it to the city council in 1855. The vineyards are planted with a 100% Tempranillo and are divided into 35 different plots which are harvested separately. The wines are aged for one to three years (depending on style) in 22 different types of French oak, and offer a modern style alternative to the wines of Vega Sicilia.
The Tinto Joven is a blend of Tinto Fino (80%), Cabernet Sauvignon (10%) and Merlot (10%), and is matured in oak casks for 3 months.
The Crianza is a blend of Tinto Fino (85%), and Cabernet Sauvignon (15%) and spends 12 months in a mixture of American and French oak.
The Reserva is made from the same blend as the Crianza but is made from the finest fruit available and is matured in oak for 18 months.
Ribera del Duero
In the last 30 years, Ribera del Duero has emerged from almost nowhere to challenge Rioja for the crown of Spain's greatest wine region. Once known only as the home of Vega Sicilia it now boasts numerous bodegas of outstanding quality like Cillar de Silos, Alión and Hacienda Monasterio. Ribera del Duero was granted its DO status in 1982, at a time when only nine bodegas were operating there, yet today it has over 200 wineries and more than 20,000 hectares of vines. Most of Ribera del Duero's production is red, with only a modest quantity of rosado produced. No white wines are allowed under the DO.
Ribera del Duero owes its success to a combination of factors: firstly, its terroir of schistous sub-soil bears remarkable similarity to other famous winemaking regions such as the Douro and Priorat. Secondly, its microclimate, with its high altitude, hot days and cool nights (a phenomenon known as “diurnal variation”), ensures ripeness while preserving the vivacity of the fruit, aromatic flavours and refreshing acidity.
Thirdly, it has been blessed with an exceptional native grape, Tempranillo (also known as Tinto del País or Tinto Fino). This yields superb, complex red wines that are delicious when young but which also have the capacity to age into magnificent Gran Reservas. Finally, the immense influence of its winemakers has been key – historically, of course, Vega Sicilia, but more recently Peter Sisseck (Hacienda Monasterio) and the indefatigable Aragón family of Cillar de Silos.
The same DO rules govern Ribera's barrel-aged styles as for Rioja: Crianzas are aged for two years before release with at least a year in oak barrels; Reservas must be three years old with at least a year spent in oak; and, finally, Gran Reservas must be five years old before going on sale, with two years spent in barrel. The young (joven) unoaked red wines, called Roble, tend to boast a moreish, vibrant, bramble fruit while the best oak-aged styles of Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva show intense, generous fruit, overlaid with notes of vanilla and sweet spice, and wrapped up in polished, elegant tannins.
Recommended producers: Vega Sicilia (including Alión), Cillar de Silos, Hacienda Monasterio
Tempranillo/Tinto Fino
A high quality red wine grape that is grown all over Spain except in the hot South - it is known as Tinto Fino in Ribera del Duero, Cencibel in La Mancha and Valdepenas and Ull de Llebre in Catalonia. Its spiritual home is in Rioja and Navarra where it constitutes around 70% of most red blends.
Tempranillo-based wines tend to have a spicy, herbal, tobacco-like character accompanied by ripe strawberry and red cherry fruits. It produces fresh, vibrantly fruit driven "jovenes" meant for drinking young. However Tempranillo really comes into its own when oak aged, as with the top Riojas where its flavours seem to harmonise perfectly with both French and American oak, producing rich, powerful and concentrated wines which can be extraordinarily long-lived.
In Ribera del Duero it generally sees less oak - the exception being Vega Sicilia where it is blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and then aged for an astonishing 7 years in oak and is unquestionably one of the world`s greatest wines.
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Description
Dark and brooding, this is full of black, brambly fruit and some spice from judicious oak ageing. The tannins are fine and lend a good structure but do not dominate the pure fruit. This is a very finely balanced wine with a long finish.
Fergus Stewart, Private Account Manager
The combination of altitude, well-suited soils and the reputation and endeavours of properties such as Vega Sicilia and Pesquera have all boosted our familiarity with Ribera Del Duero, a large and fashionable Denominacion in the heart of Castile. The region is punctuated by wineries attempting to out-do each other in intense concentrated wines, its Bodegas often constructed with a Guggenheim-esq flamboyance The Rodero-Villa family at Pago de Los Capellanes, thankfully, are more restrained in their ambitions, and their wines, correspondingly, are more harmonious.
From the clay and limestone soils of the high plateau of Pedrosa, in the heart of the Denominacion, this aromatic Crianza is made from 80% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and is one of their finest examples yet. With an intense red colour and aromas of ripe red berry fruits, spices and vanilla, this full bodied wine is ready to drink but will age well for a further 2-3 years. This wine will go with most red meat, particularly steak au poivre or a grilled T-bone steak.
Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer
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