Bodegas Hacienda Monasterio

2012 is an excellent vintage in Ribera del Duero, shown to great effect here. Dark and robust, there’s an attractive bloody character to the fruit. Supple and gentle throughout with a lovely creaminess to the fruit. Lots of violets on the finish, with herbs and spicy richness. Drink 2016 - 2021

A blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Cabernet-Sauvignon and aged in oak for 16 months, the nose of this wine is floral yet profound and fruit-driven with notes of damson, blackcurrant and cherry. The palate is far more mineral than the nose indicates, with great structure based on firm but fine-grained tannins and harmonious acidity. The wine is still in its youth and will develop for a few years yet in bottle. 
Nick Stewart Wine Buying  

A resounding success, flourishing from a late, cool vintage. Beautifully perfumed, boasting precision and definition.

“2013 by the Bodegas’ own admittance was, to use that great wine-trade euphuism, ‘difficult’ in Ribera del Duero. The mark of a great estate however, is what they can achieve when the elements don’t play ball; that this Reserva was produced from the latest harvest in history, is testament to Peter Sisseck’s stellar site, fruit and barrel selection. Cool, pure and precise throughout this is refinement to the last. Fruit-forward yes, but it isn’t necessarily the fruit that keeps your nose so absorbed, granite, cool stone and a touch of blackcurrant leaf add layers of complexity to the 80% Tempranillo 20% Cabernet blend. Concentrated and silky, the tannins have been honed by 20 months in French oak and the finish is so harmonious and complete that you wish to repeat the entire experience instantly.”

Jared Ehret, Private Account Manager

The Especial suffix is used sparingly in Spain, so we can rely on its value. Herewith a case in point; made from 78% Tinto Fino and 22% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2009 has been aged in Alier oak for 20 months, and is a delight from start to finish. As with all truly fine wine, it is quite subtle initially, its attack hardly meriting such a noun, its evanescent floral elegance underwritten by hints of aniseed and blackcurrant leaf. Self-assured and dignified, this is an outstanding effort.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer

Hacienda Monasterio is one of the great names in Ribera del Duero. Located between the villages of Pesquera de Valbuena del Duero on the so-called Golden Mile, the estate covers 170 hectares, its vines all north-south facing, with plots of Cabernet, Merlot and Malbec complementing the Tinto Fino. Peter Sissac, who actually lives on the estate, is consultant winemaker here and it should therefore come as no huge surprise that the quality of the wines is of the highest rank. The wines (only crianza and reserva wines are produced) are matured in one-year old Bordeaux casks and the wines are consistently amongst the region’s finest.

The Reserva Especial, as its name indicates, is made only in the best years, its previous incarnations being 2009 and 2005. 2010 is a more feminine elegant style and therefore completely complementary to its forebears. The blend ,as usual, favours Tinto Fino over Cabernet Sauvignon, but with a little more of the latter ( 24%) than in the other cuvées. This, allied to a longer ageing in French barrel, imparts spicy richness and a black fruit foundation upon which is built the pleasing idiosyncratic characteristics of the property, among them herbs, spice and a distinctively savoury kick at the back of the palate. Most impressive.
Simon Field MW - Wine Buyer

Peter Sisseck, the consultant winemaker at Hacienda Monasterio, sees 2010 in the same vein as 2012 and 2008, that is to say as an elegant , ‘Atlantic’ vintage, a perceived virtue in such a climate and one which allows the wine full aromatic expression. A blend of 80% Tinto Fino and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine has an attractive nose of violets and eucalypt and a palate which is soft and rich, courtesy, in no small measure, of the 20 month ageing in French oak.
Simon Field MW -  Wine Buyer

Hacienda Monasterio’s new releases this year continue to impress. There is an elegance to the Cosecha (so called to reflect the fact that, with 18 months in oak, it is aged for far longer than a standard Crianza) with its fine, blackcurrant nose and lovely, scented aromas. The palate is svelte with super-fine, pinpoint tannins coated with layers of juicy, fresh black fruit. This is generous but with a minerality that holds it in check all the way through the long, complex finish. Matured for 18 months in 30 percent new and 70 percent used French oak, this is truly impressive. Drink 2020-2026.

The style of the 2014 Reserva is quite different to its younger 2015 Cosecha sibling – a reflection both of the different vintages as well as the longer ageing (20 months) in barrel. This has a much more mineral, toasty nose with a savoury core. The fruit is more restrained with dark, mocha-chocolate notes and a cocoa bean character. Matured for 20 months in 60 percent new and 40 percent used French oak barrels, this needs more time to mellow before broaching. Drink 2021-2028.