1994 Alejandro Fernandez Pesquera Janus Reserva, 3-bottle Lot

Bodegas Alejandro Fernandez Tinto Pesquera was started in 1972 when Alejandro Fernandez set up his own commercial winery after years of making small amounts of wine for himself and his family. Fernandez is a Spanish Horatio Alger, having dropped out of school at age 14 to work in the fields. He spent decades working in such hands-on professions as carpentry, farming and machine making before turning his passion for winemaking into a business. Today the Tinto Pesquera estate includes nearly 500 acres of vineyards in the Pesquera del Duero region of Spain. Though there are several bottlings, all the estate’s wines are 100% Tempranillo. The estate’s wines win consistent compliments, and are considered some of the best Spanish offerings. Fernandez himself is a legend and is generally credited with having made the Ribera del Duero one of the world’s prestigious viticultural areas.

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.