The Ribera del Duero red 2021 Matallana comes from a challenging year but with very good potential for quality and quantity. It has grapes from different vineyards in five different villages on different soils, where they made a big selection to keep the very best grapes; they got 80,000 kilograms of grapes and ended up producing some 22,000 bottles. It fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel and oak vats. It matured in French oak barrels of different sizes for 14 months. This is a superb classical Ribera del Duero with ripeness, concentration, balance and elegance and the freshness from a cooler year marked by the big snowstorm in January and a milder summer. It has 14.4% alcohol with a pH of 3.72 and 4.6 grams of acidity. It's very spicy and peppery, showy and extroverted, very spicy with some exotic notes of nutmeg, ripe wild berries, violets and herbs. It's medium to full-bodied with very chalky tannins and is tasty, almost salty. 22,450 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2023. (LG)

lush yet fresh, with blackberries, black cherries, white pepper, graphite, grilled herbs and cocoa powder. Full-bodied and fine-veined, with tight but powdery tannins. Structured and fine veined. A long, well-extracted Ribera del Duero that has excellent balance and polish. Still shows energy.

The 2021 Matallana comes from Ribera del Duero and was aged for 14 months in French oak barrels. Deep garnet in the glass, it opens with black cherry and crisp plum, layered with camphor, potpourri and an austere, slightly closed yet complex profile. The palate is compact and creamy, delivering intense flavor with fine grip and juicy flow, finishing with a chalky texture. A structured yet weightless red. The vineyard names are crossed out on the label, a subtle protest against Denominación de Origen (D.O.) regulations. (JH)