2017 Vivaltus, Ribera del Duero, Spain
Critics reviews
Brambled bilberry, loganberry and cassis fruits, the dark tight flesh with well-developed acidity that you have come to expect from this wine, touch of bitter black chocolate on the finish. This is a slow build, well integrated, and the power is subtle rather than overt, at least in comparison to the usual style of Ribera del Duero. Strongly savoury finish, with fennel and aniseed. Jean-Claude and Jeff Berrouet consultants, with winemaker Montxo Martinez and owners Marcos and Carlos Yllera, made from old vines growing from 750m to 1,000m in altitude, aged in French oak.
Drink 2022 - 2038
Jane Anson, janeanson.com (Jun 2022)
I was very pleasantly surprised by the bottled 2017 Vivaltus despite the fact that 2017 was a challenging year and was decimated by terrible frost in April that resulted in losses of up to 60% of the crop. The end of the season was warm and the harvest early, so the growing cycle was quite short. The wine is floral, perfumed, elegant and insinuating; the oak feels pretty integrated, and the palate is balanced with very good tannins (not as refined as those from the 2016 or 2018). A triumph over the adverse conditions of the vintage.
Drink 2021 - 2027
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate (Jun 2021)
About this WINE
Bodega Vivaltus
Vivaltus is a new project from the Yllera family, who have a long history of winemaking in Spain’s Ribera del Duero region. Recently, the Vivaltus team brought on legendary consultant Jean-Claude Berrouet, best known as the winemaker of the globally-renowned Château Pétrus in Bordeaux.
Vineyards are among some of the highest in Ribera del Duero, up to 1,000 metres above sea level, and vines average 80 years of age – although some are more than a century old. Predominantly Tempranillo is grown, with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot making up the rest. In the winery, Jean-Claude opts to use minimal new oak, a significant feature in many top wines of the Ribera.
The 2016 vintage is the first release of Vivaltus and was launched to great anticipation and critical praise. Hailed as “a superb cuvée” and “a fantastic project”, the quality of the vineyards and winemaking shine through, making this a rich and balanced wine that’s expected to age well for at least a decade. Vivaltus is set to become a successful and well sought-after annual offer.
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
Brambled bilberry, loganberry and cassis fruits, the dark tight flesh with well-developed acidity that you have come to expect from this wine, touch of bitter black chocolate on the finish. This is a slow build, well integrated, and the power is subtle rather than overt, at least in comparison to the usual style of Ribera del Duero. Strongly savoury finish, with fennel and aniseed. Jean-Claude and Jeff Berrouet consultants, with winemaker Montxo Martinez and owners Marcos and Carlos Yllera, made from old vines growing from 750m to 1,000m in altitude, aged in French oak.
Drink 2022 - 2038
Jane Anson, janeanson.com (Jun 2022)
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