Torremoron Ribera del Duero Tempranillo

Torremorón, made in the hamlet of Quintanamanvirgo in DO Ribera del Duero, is an example of how much can be done when you start with beautiful raw material. Walking up the hill to the town square here is a trip back in time; fewer than 90 people live in this tiny village, and 85 of them work at the winery … the other 10 work at the bar. This is the extent of the commerce in this town, where every family still maintains subterranean cellars for wine that go stories beneath the ground into the cool limestone and winemaking centers around the 100+ year old, bush trained Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) vines that are the lifeblood of this area. The high desert climate has enormous diurnal shifts, which combined with the limestone soil and elevage in stainless steel, make for a wine of intense freshness and purity. When you taste Torremorón, there is no “makeup” – just the unadulterated expression of old-vine Tempranillo that lets you drink like the locals do.

WHAT MAKES THIS WINE UNIQUE?

An expression of purity unlike any we have found from Ribera del Duero. Extremely old vines provide incredible raw material for winemaker Fernando de la Cal, who preserves the incredible freshness and elegance of Quintanamanvirgo’s fruit through stainless steel and minimal extraction in the winemaking.

GRAPE:

100% Tempranillo (Tinto Fino). Vines planted from 1914-1934. Tended in sandy and limestone soil at 824 m (2,703 ft) elevation.

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS:

Here, the fresh, red berried, mineral character of Ribera shines with a slightly spicy, minty note. This is one of only a few Ribera wines where you can taste the “cut” and chewy, juicy Tempranillo flavors unburdened by oak. A crisp fruited wine with structure and substance, it’s neither light nor unduly heavy. This would pair well with Thai beef salad, marinated Korean BBQ pork, Peking duck and meat or chicken dishes with a piquant play of spices.

VINIFICATION AND AGEING:

The grapes are picked manually during the cool night hours. After de-stemming and crush, the must (crushed grapes and juice) is macerated for three days on the skins in stainless steel tank at cool temperature (10C, or 50F). After fermentation, the wine is macerated for an additional 20 days to extract additional flavor and color from the skins. The wine is aged in stainless steel tanks for three months before filtration and bottling.

LOCATION, SOIL, CLIMATE:

Vineyards are close to the town of Quintanamanvirgo at an elevation of 824 meters (2,703 ft.) within the north central part of Ribera del Duero, within the province of Burgos, just west of the villages of Anguix and La Horra and north of Pedrosa de Duero and Roa, Quintanamanvirgo is well situated in the north central area of Ribera. The vineyard soil is composed of sandy with percentage of clay and limestone in the subsoil. This area has a “classic” Continental climate: hot dry summers and cold, wet winters. The moderately low annual rainfall (17.9 in.) provides a long ripening period which results in greater complexity and aromatic intensity in the grapes. The wines from Ribera’s Burgos zone are usually darker, more concentrated and more aromatic than wines from the western Valladolid area of Ribera del Duero.

TASTING NOTES:

Fresh black and blue fruit aromas are lifted and sharpened by a peppery note and a suggestion of smoky minerals. Vibrant and focused on the palate, offering intense boysenberry and cassis flavors that intensify with aeration. Seamless and expressive, with no rough edges and a long, fruit tannic finish that echoes the blueberry note.