From Urbión to the Oporto estuary, along 897 kilometers, the Duero River flows rhythmically without thinking while on its banks, in addition to the city of Soria, there are seven wine designations of origin: Ribera del Duero, the reference designation; Wheel, cradle and home of the Verdejo; the hard and rough Bull; the unknown Land of Zamora wine; the border Arribes del Duero and the Portuguese Oporto and Alto Duero.
Almost nothing.
Along the course of the Duero, the native grape par excellence, the very Spanish Tempranillo, predominates. A variety that could force us to take sides between Ribera or Rioja, just as we should also take sides—some believe—between Barça or Madrid, or between Béquer and Machado*.
Tempranillo, being a single variety, changes its name and expression depending on the territory where it grows, always on the side of this river that flows towards the Atlantic Ocean, determined and oblivious to our tasks. A red grape with a thousand faces, with a thousand denominations, ninety-four of which are identified in the Vitis International Variety Catalog (VIVC).
Fine ink or ink from the country in the Ribera del Duero, where it shows its elegance and balanced intensity; Tempranillo in Rueda, where it does not stand out for its relevance, overshadowed by the white and omnipresent Verdejo; ink from Toro en Toro, where it expresses robustness and roughness, perhaps flaunting the name of the DO; Tempranillo from Arribes, where it coexists with Juan García, not being the majority variety, and the excellent Tinta Roriz, the official name of Tempranillo in Portugal that is part of the Port blend, the best wine for conversation and to honor the memory of our ancestors. .
But two DOs that concern us in this month's selection, Ribera del Duero and Toro.
The red wines from DO Ribera del Duero compete in quality with those from their counterpart DOC Rioja even though they are not (yet) a qualified DO, as is the case with the latter. The Ribera del Duero also includes the most prestigious wine in Spain, Vega Sicilia: a world-class wine (a qualification I borrow from my admired Santiago Rivas @colectivodecantado) that erases betrayals and so on from memory.
And Toro wines, catapulted to fame when King Midas himself, called Bernard Arnault (LVMH), acquired the Numanthia Termes winery from the Eguren family for an undisclosed sum. Wines of a roundness in the glass only comparable to that of José Tomás in the ring, wines to find oneself in glory drinking them accompanied by a Zamoran loaf and a cured sheep's cheese.
Heredad Arano Crianza 2020, Ribera del Duero, the winery's tribute to the matriarch of the founding family, Sofía Arano. A single-varietal fine red wine with the characteristic expression of Tempranillo from the Ribera del Duero in Burgos.
Finca Sobreño Ildefonso 2017, single-varietal Tinta de Toro, from old strains as the canons dictate (remember the selection and the December article). Strong, robust and mineral without giving up fruit.
And Legaris Crianza, another Ribera, single-varietal fine red wine refined with 4% Cabernet Sauvignon. An accessible, technical and elegant wine to drink on any occasion.
There goes my proposal for the selection Route along the banks of the Duero.
Get several together but not too many, it would be enough and we have not come here to be thirsty. Buy a tempranillo from the DO Rioja of a similar range (there are some available at Gourmet La Vanguardia, Marqués de Murrieta Reserva 2018, to suggest one), get four good glasses per beard and compare the expression of the same variety in each of the different areas. The differences will surprise you: growing up in Haro is not the same as growing up in Peñafiel or Toro, just as growing up in Beaune is not the same as growing up in Nuits-Saint-Georges.
And if we take sides, even at the risk of it being irrelevant, I am more from Rioja. From Rioja and Único, of course. About football I have little or nothing to say.
And yes, you guessed it, the winks are from Camino Soria, from Gabinete Caligari, a song that pairs perfectly with Tempranillo because pairing is what it is, that is, whatever you feel like. Let's see if anyone has the nerve to contradict you.
