Bodegas Peñalba López - Torre Albéniz Reserva 2020 (Magnum)

Pablo Peñalba López acquired the Finca Torremilanos estate in 1975 with 60 hectares of vines (now grown to almost 200 hectares of vineyards)—seven years before Ribera del Duero was even recognized as an appellation. He immediately began producing estate-bottled wines of remarkable quality, moving away from the former practice of selling bulk grapes to the local co-op. Pablo continued to develop and showcase the potential of the land across a wide range of soils (sand, rounded river stones, clay, limestone) and exposures.

By the early 2000s, their eldest son, Ricardo, had stepped into his father’s role and began investigating organic and biodynamic farming methods, including returning to horse-plowing, hand picking, and native-yeast fermentation. In 2015 they became the first in the appellation to be Demeter certified. Since 1988 they have even produced their own barrels of French and American oak at their in-house cooperage.

The Torre Albéniz Reserva vineyards belong to the municipality of Aranda de Duero, are at an altitude of between 800 and 900 metres, are planted in bush form and are about 70 years old. The altitude and age of the vineyards encourages the production of concentrated grapes, with a good maturation and a balance that would be difficult to achieve with other characteristics. The predominant climate in the area is a mixture of Mediterranean and Atlantic, with little rainfall, cold winters and summers that are cool at night and hot during the day.

To produce Torre Albéniz Reserva the harvest is carried out manually in order to perform an initial selection of bunches in the field. The must is fermented at a controlled temperature in stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeasts, which are those found on the grapes themselves, and a maceration is carried out for about 12 days with the skins. Lastly the wine remains in 225-litre French oak barrels for 24 months.

Torre Albéniz Reserva is a Tempranillo wine with a long barrel ageing in which the black fruit of the grape and the spicy and balsamic elements coming from the barrel come together perfectly.

"The more classical 2020 Torre Albéniz Reserva reminds me of some vintages of Vega Sicilia, with a combination of ripe berry fruit, spice, earth and a vegetal touch, developing notes of iodine and soy sauce with time in the glass. It's medium to full-bodied, with good ripeness, 14.6% alcohol and a fine-boned mouthfeel with fine tannins and a chalky finish. 53,308 bottles and some smaller and larger formats produced. It was bottled in December 2022." - 94 Points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Producer: Finca Torremilanos

Country: Spain

Region: Castilla y León

Varietal: Tempranillo

Appellation: Ribera del Duero

Vintage: 2020

Size: 1.5L