Bela - Ribera del Duero 2021 (750ml)

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Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2023 - #79

Producer	Bela
Country	Spain
Region	Ribera del Duero
Varietal	Red Blend
Vintage	2021
Sku	9339

 

The bread-and-butter wine here is the 2021 Bela, produced with Tempranillo from the village of Villalba de Duero (mentioned on the label), from sandy and clay rich soils on limestone mother rock that delivers powerful but not overripe wines with a short-ish élevage to achieve a fine-boned and fresh wine. The grapes were picked between October 1st and 25th, mostly Tempranillo but some 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot too, and it matured in French oak barrels for nine months. The wine has 14.3% alcohol, a pH of 3.57 and close to five grams of acidity, textbook parameters from the zone and textbook profile of classical Ribera; it's ripe without excess, with very integrated oak and a velvety palate with silky tannins. It reminds me of the historical wines from the early 1990s, Valribeño and so on, with some rusticity but very honest and characterful. With time in the glass, it develops a precise note of licorice intermixed with berry fruit and some spices and herbs. They feel this is the wine they wanted to produce from the beginning; they consider it their best vintage to date irrespective of the style of the year, with 2019 more powerful, 2020 more elegant and this 2021 something in between. 

An elegant red, with fine tannins enmeshed with flavors of pureed raspberry and black plum reduction, soft fig, thyme and lavender accents, while a minerally underpinning echoes on the finish. Drink now through 2028. 10,000 cases made, 1,000 cases imported.

Lots of dark cherries, black olives, coffee and cumin spices to the nose. Rich and medium- to full-bodied on the palate with tight, chewy tannins and a juicy, spicy finish. Vegan. Better in 2024.