Watch out, Rioja – you have a rival

I learned about the climate the hard way. Having arrived one baking hot summer’s day, I awoke shivering in the middle of the night as the temperature dropped from 35 degrees to a chilly 10. I remember the first time I tried the wines too; I will never forget those thrilling rich ripe flavours counterbalanced by a delicious freshness.

Ribera del Duero is a fairly flat, arid plateau with fairly nondescript villages that still show signs of poverty. Beautiful it isn’t. Yet over the past few decades it has come from nowhere to emerge as one of Spain’s greatest wine regions, competing with Rioja for top spot. Although both areas usually rely on the same Tempranillo grape (called Tino Fino or Tinto del País in Ribera del Duero), the wines could not taste more different.

At altitudes ranging from 500-850 metres, Ribera del Duero (the Duero river, aka the Douro further west in Portugal) has bitterly cold winters and short hot summers, with the aforementioned very cold nights. There is a danger of frost, not just in late spring or early summer, but also at harvest time in September, making viticulture a risky business. That climate is responsible for the unique style of wine. They have wonderful intense bright fruits, elegant and refreshing, yet full-bodied at the same time. Oak, when used sensitively, can be a good idea, but I often find myself preferring the less expensive Jovenes and Roble wines to the Reservas and Gran Reservas.

Victim of own success

For a while, the region was a victim of its own success. In 1982, there were around a dozen producers, Twenty years later this had grown to more than 100 (it now hovers around 300). This was a period when more was considered better: more alcohol, more new oak, and more extraction. The resulting wines impressed some critics, but were pretty undrinkable. They also cost huge sums of money, and as Spain was having it’s own Tiger moment, there were plenty of wealthy businessmen willing to pay. It helped that two of Spain’s most renowned and most expensive wines, Vega Sicilia (available from Greenacres in Wexford) and Pingus, were from the region. Sadly not everyone had the same mature vineyards and winemaking skills as these two.

Nowadays there is a more measured approach. The wines are more balanced, with plenty of that gorgeous Ribera del Duero fruit. As our weather cools, this is the perfect time of year to try them out. Lamb is the local favourite – lechazo or suckling lamb cooked in an asador or clay oven. We can drink these wines with all kinds of roast and grilled lamb. I find them ideally suited to a slightly fatty shoulder of lamb. They go nicely with grilled pork and beef too.