Ribera del Duero DO

So for northern Spain, connect Atlantic influence to the fresh, high-acid wines of Ria Spicius and altitude and continentality to Tempranillo, Enrioca and Rivera del Duero.

Think about why blending and oak maturation shape Rioja and compare the style with the more powerful wines of Ribera del Duero.

For Mediterranean and central Spain, connect drought, bush vines, low planting density and altitude to the styles of Garnacha, Carignana and Monastrell.

Explain why Priorat is concentrated and expensive, why Jumila suits Monastral and why Castilla-La Mancha can support large volume production.

Spain combines maritime, continental and Mediterranean climates.

The Atlantic influence supports fresh Alboriño and Rías Baixas, while mountains and altitude moderate warmer inland regions.

Tempranillo defines Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Toro, but regional climate creates the different styles.

Garnacha and Carignana thrive in hot, dry regions, while old vines and steep slopes give Priorat concentration and high production costs.

Yeah, but you're, you-

You probably don't even know where, uh, Ribera del Duero is.

I, I'm sorry.

Father just used to refer to you as the caretaker.

No, I think that it was a good decision.

We have been producing extraordinary wines, Celeste from Ribera del Duero and from Rueda.

We have the Pazo das Bruxas, an extraordinary Albarino in Riesbeches.

We have also, for instance, Malpastor or...

Um, you know, I use my, my resources from when I went to do the Tripa de la Brigada to do, you know, PowerPoint slides for my staff, being that, you know, I feel like most people, if you're going to be working in a Basque or a Spanish influenced restaurant, you have a basic understanding of at least maybe Rioja.

So kind of diving deeper into Ribera del Duero, Valdeorras, um, Sherry, kind of doing more deep dives into things that are a little bit harder for just the normal server working in a, a place like that is able to handle, and breaking it down in a more approachable way.

You know, we just did a wine dinner for, uh, Alberto Ortiz that was really fun with my boss, uh, Nick Yanez.

Um, and so I'm mostly curating the list, but also, you know, doing the ordering.

Uh, not great.

And, uh, wine-wise, we had a Ribera del Duero, which was pretty good.

One thing I would say I really appreciate about, really appreciate about the way wine is served in Spain is even the red wine is always cold, which I'm a big fan of at this time of year when it is f- 43 degrees outside.

But yeah, we're not doing too well on the gastronomy front.

And Peter Winning, my uncle, he had some friends who had acquired a big bodega down in in Chiari, by the way.

And with that property came also a business project in Ribera del Duero that they had nobody to run it for them.

So I was sort of sent to Spain to look after what became Hacienda Monasterio in 1990.

Yeah.

Um, all right, so Emilio, what happens? Well, Emilio, um, you know, he continues on making wine.

Um, and then in 2019, this guy Pedro, uh, Pedro Ruiz, uh, comes along, who owns Alma Carrasqueiras, Carrasqueiras in, in, uh, Ribera del Duero winery, right? And Pedro's like, "I wanna buy your winery.

You're getting older.

Um, you know, I w- I want to maintain the legacy here in Ribeiro." And, uh, that summer, summer 2019, they, they finalize the deal.

... yesterday I had this, uh, this, this, uh, same example with my son.

My son did this four-day stage race in, uh, Ribera del Duero, and yesterday was a crosswind stage.

And so I had told him, you know, I s- I, I told him that where the crosswinds were gonna be, and I, these guys, these juniors don't, especially in Spain-

[laughs] Yeah