RIBERA DEL DUERO, SPAIN
Valsotillo Finca Buenvista Ribera del Duero 2017
Valsotilla Finca Buenavista 2017 is from Spain’s Ribera del Duero, home to the country’s most iconic wine estate and international headliner—the historic Vega Sicilia and its founder, Alejandro Fernández. Bodegas Ismael Arroyo, the producer of Valsotilla Finca Buenavista 2017, may be less widely known, but no less foundational to one’s understanding of Ribera del Duero wine.
Ribera del Duero—the most star-studded wine route in Spain—is the ‘must-try’ wine zone in our industry cranking out wines with big payoffs. Any wine critic in the world will agree it’s simply legendary.
There’s so much wine packed into this $25 wine, it’s hard to believe. “It’s a BIG wine for the money”. Not only in terms of its gripping, full-bodied personality, but also the genuine history behind it. This isn’t merely a “good value” wine —it’s a historically significant wine from heritage Tempranillo vines—the benefits of a family winemaking tradition going back to the 1600s
A wine of this pedigree is rare at this price point, and in a region with many established houses, Bodegas Ismael Arroyo’s “Val Sotillo” is not only one of the most historic wines but arguably the price/value leader. It is worth well over its price point and it’s OUT OF THIS WORLD!
Valsotillo Finca Buenvista Ribera del Duero 2017: Characteristics
BODY / STYLE / OAK – Medium-bodied / Warm and Spicy, Floral, Fruity, Mineral / Oaked
SWEETNESS – Extra Dry
CELLARING – Drink now or cellar
BEST PAIRINGS – Breads, Cured Meat, Ham, Hard Cheese, Red Meat, Roasted Vegetables, Salted or Marinated Mushrooms
TASTING NOTE – Dark red colour, cherry rim. Toasted aromas, spicy, and slightly creamy oak. Rich and tasty in the mouth, fruity and well balanced.
Valsotilla Finca Buenavista 2017: Producer, Bodegas Ismael Arroyo
The Bodegas Ismael Arroyo is one of the most traditional and historical cellars from Ribera del Duero. This familiar cellar is located in the province of Burgos, and more specifically in the town called Sotillo de la Ribera.
The cellar was founded in 1979 by Ismael Arroyo when the Designation of Origin (D.O.) didn’t exist yet. In 1982 he, along with others winegrowers and wine-makers, founded the Denomination of Origin Ribera del Duero, which years later became one of the most star-studden wine trails in Spain and all over the world.
Its traditional production method has passed from generation to generation and it is the element that makes the difference in this wines. Its ancient underground cellars, which have natural conditions, and the particular harvest made by hand and with grapes from the proximity have granted a premium quality and a wide recognition.
The cellar is an underground built in the 16th century boasting an approximate 13,000 square feet and it is made of underground galleries excavated out of rock.
Bodegas Ismael Arroyo It is one of the five founding wine estates of the Ribera del Duero DO and the careful steward of some of the region’s oldest Tempranillo vines. It is, of course, precisely this long heritage that enables Val Sotillo to deliver a wine of this quality at such a shockingly low price.
Valsotilla Finca Buenavista 2017: What the Critics Say
91 Points / Top 100 Ribera del Duero Tim Atkin, MW, 2021 |
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