2009 Vintage Report Ribera del Duero

I recently asked the hardworking team at Valduero in the Ribera del Duero, Spain, if they could give us some insight into the 2009 vintage for them. This is what they had to say:

Having become accustomed to very stressful and busy vintages, we have to recognize that this has been one of the most relaxing we have had in the last few years.

At the beginning of September we had a very high Baume and feared that the harvest would have to start a lot sooner than usual. Suddenly the Baume stabilized at 13º, while the phenolic ripening (the skin, the seeds, the tannins) continued at a good pace. From then on we didn’t get a drop of rain. Consequently, the grape did not receive any water and the components didn’t dilute.

In the end, it was very dry at harvest, which made the work in the field a lot easier. There is even a chance that this could be one of the best vintages of the past 5 years, closely competing with 2004.

With regard to the white Albillo; due to the lack of rain we had a very healthy grape that allowed us to delay the harvest until the 16th of October, something very unusual. That same night we were lucky enough to see the temperature drop to 0º, so the grape entered the winery at a really low temperature, producing a very good maceration prior to fermentation.

This vintage, we have again been among the last five wineries in Ribera de Duero to finish the harvest, putting phenolic ripening as a priority. This differentiates us from many of the other wineries in the Valladolid area. 

So it all sounds very promising. Export Manager, Roger Matthews, went on to say that the 2009 has recently been released and is already showing the quality they expected. "Bursting with apricot and ripe peach" he says.

Dean.