Montecastro Bodegas y Viñedos
Ribera del Duero 2022 Montecastro
Reviews
The Wine Advocate 93/100
The 2022 Montecastro is surprisingly harmonious and balanced, not showing any heat or excess ripeness despite the 14.5% alcohol on the label, which is not much for the zone and year, even if they harvest two weeks later than at Hacienda Monasterio. The Tempranillo is complemented with some 5% Merlot, and the oak is neatly integrated; they only used 20% new barrels. The wine s harmonious and balanced, going back to the "vino fino" style with surprisingly polished tannins. This is really impressive. It was a shorter crop, and they produced some 90,000 bottles. It was bottled in June 2024.
The wines from Montecastro have improved tremendously in the last few years. The Del Río family from Hacienda Monasterio bought the winery in 2012, and they have made many changes since then. The idea is to replace Merlot with Garnacha (they have already planted three hectares) in their high-altitude vineyards (800 to 945 meters above sea level), and they are expanding the winery to improve the quality (not to grow in volume), keeping the production to some 140,000 bottles. They have 30 hectares of 20- to 25-year old vines in Castrillo de Duero that are being certified organic, and they only vinify their own grapes (but that's not closed, if they find quality high-altitude Tempranillo, which is 95% of their wine). All of the wines ferment in concrete, and they don't use more than 20% new oak. The wines have a profile that goes back to the wines from Ribera from the end of the 1980s and early 1990s—characterful and powerful but with the elegant rusticity that is the signature of the region. In 2022, given the powerful, tannic and concentrated wines (35% lower yields), they are extending the élevage, and they managed to keep more freshness thanks to the higher altitude. 2023 has delivered more fruit-driven wines with freshness and great balance. And 2021 was an almost perfect year when it comes to climate.
Reviews
Bodegas Montecastro
Castilla y Leon / Spanje
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