I tend to find that most supermarkets and local offies tend to be too focused on Rioja in their Spain sections...

Until last night my limited experience of Ribera Del Duero was a few bottles of Bodegas Arzuaga Navarro “La Planta” 2005 purchased in 2007 which drank well young but was only available to me online (retailed at around 12 quid IIRC).

Last night I was out for dinner with some clients, one of whom recommended we go for 2004 Alion Ribera del Duero (owned by the (prestidgious - having read up on it this morning) Vega Sicilia estate)
This wine blew us all away! 100% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) Really rich deep berry flavour with smooth creamy vanilla coming from the oak and great length (so long I was still tasting it this morning ! )
Due to youthfulness, tannins were a little heavy when drunk on its own but with food worked really well. Really is one to lay down for a good while yet but never the less still very impresive even now and highly recommended

Obviously this isn’t an everyday drinking wine (around £40 online) and although its not really right to use a "fine wine" as a benchmark I am interested to know if there are any reasonabley priced (I do appreciate they tend to come up more expensive than Rioja) Ribera del Dueros anyone here would recommend?

cheers
Mike

You do pick'em Mike ! And What's this Shezza business, is Mike not OK ?

Ribera del Duero DO is a minefield and very trendy in some circles. 2004 was a very successful vintage in Rioja, so why not, further up river towards Portugal.

OK, I've had a few and bought a few. The Pesquera was lovely, elegant and firm and had some Cab added, with a significant saving over that Vega Sicilia, that I've only heard about.

The ones I bought were from Safeway in their upscale range - sadly Safeway is now swallowed up. I can recommend PEDROSA that Safeway offered at £9.99 or there abouts (quite a few years ago), an affordable Ribera. But don't keep this for more than 6 - 7 years, as the framework begins to fail, and the wine goes soft in the head and flabby & flat (INMHO). The top of the range Ribera's should be left for at least 8 - 10 years before ready and could go decades in the old days.

Of PEDROSA, may be Oddbins stock it now, there could be an import line from the old Safeway stocking policy.

When buying affordable Ribera's you must pay attention to vintage, otherwise you pay for the name.

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Duncan

Duncan

I think you'll find that Shezza is a shortening of his (perfectly normal) surname.

It did cause a problem when he tried to join the Forum because I assumed he was another of the 20 a day spam applications to join and so deleted him.

My ebay name is Sezmez, which is short for Sensible Mel, which you'll agree is perfectly acceptable.

Oh yes it is.

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mel

Oh yes ?


Thanks Mel

You're probably OK Shezza, hopefully not perfectly normal ! - You got deleted and still came back for more punishment

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Duncan

Thanks Duncan.

As Mel says Shezza is a nickname derived from my surname - after all, wouldn't want to come across dull with plain old Mike !

Was looking into having a go at Pesquera. 2005 is most common vintage on sale now, altho believe that as with most regions of the world it too was a good vintage in spain.
Best deal I found so far is at http://www.barrelsandbottles.co.uk/acat ... deals.html 30% off all their spanish wines until 28th Feb and no minimum purchase on number of bottles. This brings the 2005 Pesquera down from £16.56 to £11.59 a bottle (£5.95 p&p on top for up to 12 bottles). Might well be getting involved there

Condado de Haza who I think is sibling to Pesquera is another I'll have a search for.

In my searches today I did come across Nos Riqueza Ribera del Duero at M&S going for £8.99. I see Mel tried tried the 2005 back in Apr 2007 but its 2006 they currently have for sale which wasn't such a strong vintage but perhaps still worth a go (2008 Decanter bronze medalist and IWC silver medalist).

As for your suggestion to head for Portugal, that is another region I'm gonna look into in the near future. first stop: Douro Valley.
Been off the Booze all January (well apart from at the weekends as that would be plain rude ) so have a bit of a back log and still on the quest for finding a few decent new world pinot noirs (already familiar with cono sur and wanting to crack NZ)

The Vega de Castilla from Waitrose is very nice, I tried an '04 recently and enjoyed the style- turbo Tempranillo. I believe this costs less than £10.

Cheers GK.
Got a waitrose right below our office here - often the urge to stop off at the wine shelves at lunchtime is unbearable but don't want to get too much of a rep...
Will stop by tomorrrow evening as out tonight and see if they've got any in.

Also probably gonna order 6 bottles of the Pesquera while they're on offer

Alright, own up ! whose swiped all the Pesquera from the site I posted above ?!

If ever the phrase "you snooze, you lose" was appropriate....

Went to buy some on Tuesday and they were all sold out
Note to self - buy some at discounted price then share with the web !

Oh well c'est la vie - I ended up buying 6 bottles elsewhere. Will give 1 a go and then lay the others down for a few years