2011 Viña de Amalio, Cillar de Silos, Ribera del Duero, Spain

2011 Viña de Amalio, Cillar de Silos, Ribera del Duero, Spain

Product: 20111325092
Prices start from £164.00 per case Buying options
2011 Viña de Amalio, Cillar de Silos, Ribera del Duero, Spain

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Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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6 x 75cl bottle
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Description

Ungrafted vines from fantastically unpromising sandy single-vineyard soils are the source of one of Spain’s most exciting jewels, named, appropriately enough, after the pater familias of this very gifted family. The 2011 is the quintessence of fine Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), aged in new French oak for 18 months, yet gloriously fresh and exuberant. A nose of cedar, graphite and blackberry gives way to a dignified palate dominated by ripe fruit, needless to say, but with an interesting sub-text of tea, iodine and lavender. The tannins are very fine and the wine’s future is assured over the next decade.

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate90/100
It's good to find the character of the vintages in the bottle, and that's what I found in the 2011 La Via de Amalio, which showed much riper than the wines I tasted from 2012 next to it. This is heady, with macerated black plums, damsons and plenty of organic, soil-driven aromas denoting very high ripeness and a warm vintage. The palate is lush, full-bodied with glossy tannins, very good volume and ripeness. Even if I like the character of 2011 less than that of 2012, this is true to the conditions of the year. 2,800 bottles.
Luis Gutirrez - 30/10/2015 Read more

About this WINE

Cillar de Silos

Cillar de Silos

If one recalls one’s history, one will remember that it was the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile that set Spain on its road to unity. This is a somewhat whimsical introduction to Bodegas Cillar de Silos, which is located in the heart of Castille, Ribera del Duero to be precise, but owned and run by the brothers and sister team of Oscár, Roberto and Amelia Aragón.

They also manage the El Quintanal Estate in neighbouring wine region Rueda and are thus perfectly located for both red and white wine making, demonstrating all that is great about, respectively, Verdejo and Tempranillo as grape varieties.

The Aragóns define the House Philosophy with the words ‘purity, fruit, low yields, long ageing and hand selection’. The wines are finely crafted but demonstrably Spanish, which is good news!

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Ribera del Duero

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

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Tempranillo/Tinto Fino

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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