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2015 Finca Villacreces Ribera del Duero

Not Currently In Auction

Latest Sale Price

May 26, 2024 - $31

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RATINGS

95James Suckling

...solid dose of violety florals, ripe plum and dark berry fruit. Tannins push this wine along while a youthful energy pervades. Structure, concentration and balance.

94Jeb Dunnuck

...pedal-to-the-metal notes of blackcurrants, white chocolate, raspberries, and lead pencil. With full-bodied richness, a ripe, sexy texture, and building tannin, it has plenty of fruit yet still has a terrific sense of purity and elegance.

93Wine Spectator

This big red delivers currant and blackberry flavors, with licorice, tar, loamy earth and mineral notes that add depth and balance. Juicy acidity balances the assertive but well-integrated tannins.

93Vinous / IWC

...highly perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red and blue fruits, vanilla, allspice and smoky minerals, and a suave floral topnote emerges with air. Gently chewy and sweet on the palate, offering vibrant black raspberry, cherry-vanilla and candied lavender flavors plus a deeper suggestion of bitter chocolate. Polished, well-knit tannins give shape to a very long, sweet finish that features hints of smokiness and baking spices.

91The Wine Advocate

...slightly international style with plenty of oak flavors and aromas...rich, full-bodied red with plenty of tannins...

PRODUCER

Finca Villacreces

Finca Villacreces in Ribera del Duero has its roots in a small winery started several centuries ago by Pedro de Villacreces, a Franciscan monk. He and his fellow clerics founded a monastery and along with it planted crops and vineyards. In the early 19th century the estate was acquired by a nobleman and in the early 20th century it was sold to the Cuadrado family. In 2004 the family met Gonzalo and Lalo Antón, owners of wineries in other Spanish regions, and they purchased Villacreces in 2007. The estate includes 160 acres of vineyards. Villacreces produces three Tempranillo-based wines. Wine Advocate has rated several vintages of Pruno, the estate’s Tempranillo/Cabernet Sauvignon blend, in the low- to mid-90s. And Wine Advocate has rated the estate’s Nebro with ratings as high as 98 pts. Nebro is 100% Tempranillo and produced only in exceptional years.

REGION

Spain, Castilla-Leon, Ribera del Duero

Ribera del Duero is, in the words of wine writer Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson, “the modern red wine miracle of northern Spain.” In 2012 Wine Enthusiast magazine named it the international wine region of the year. The appellation is a high, rocky plateau in north/central Spain that follows the Duero River for 60 miles before the river passes into Portugal, where it becomes the famous Douro River, then flows into the Atlantic Ocean. There are more than 60,000 vineyard acres in the appellation and only red wines are produced under appellations regulations. Low rainfall, hot days, many hours of sunlight and harsh winters produce grapes of great depth and flavor. Ribera de Duero’s reputation owes much to Vega Sicilia, a 150-year old estate known both for its excellent traditional red wines and its willingness to innovate with the times. Tempranillo, known locally as Tinto Fino, is the dominant red grape in the appellation, and it is often blended with small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec or Merlot. The highly acclaimed Bodegas Alejandro Fernandez, world famous for its Tinto Pesquera, is also in Ribera del Duero. The appellation status was awarded in 1982.