Ribera del Duero: Your Guide to Rioja’s Younger, Sexier Cousin

You might be forgiven for thinking that Rioja is the only red wine in Spain.

If you go to any tapas bar in the country, it’s usually the only option you’ll see. And don’t even try to ask for a wine list.

The waiter will either laugh or just stare at you like you’ve used words never before uttered in the Spanish language. (Even if you’re sure your Spanish can’t be that bad). They might even go full Blues Brothers on you! “We serve both kinds of wine here, we got red Rioja and white Rioja!”.

But don’t worry.

There is more than one type of red wine in Spain! There’s even one that’s becoming a real challenger to Rioja’s dominance in neighbourhood taverns.

No, it’s not Priorat, the other top-quality D.O.Ca wine region in Spain. (Though that is a wine that you should definitely know about).

It’s Ribera del Duero. This is a wine region on the rise, producing some of the best (and most expensive) bottles of red that Spain has to offer. These are wines that will put meat on your bones, and make the perfect pairing to the meat on your plate!

So find out why you need to know about this new classic Spanish wine region, with my guide to Ribera del Duero.

The Quick Sip on Ribera del Duero

While winemaking in Ribera del Duero goes back to the Romans, it’s a relative newcomer on the modern wine scene. Not until the late 19th century was quality wine even considered here, and even then it was contained to one winery.

Really, Ribera (as locals shorten it) is a wine of the last 50 years.

But it’s quickly become a mainstay of old-school tapas bars, and the go-to wine for plates of roast meat. It’s almost all red (in fact, good luck finding a white outside of the region).

And it’s almost all tempranillo. Even more than Rioja, the temple of tempranillo, Ribera is where this grape’s most diehard fans flock. The land is arid and dry, with a continental climate influenced by Spain’s rocky central meseta plateau.

The wines here are aged in the same manner as in Rioja, the region’s neighbour to the north. Bottles are labelled according to how long they spend ageing in oak and on the shelf. Crianza, reserva, and gran reserva wines all indicate wine that has spent considerable time in the barrel.

Expect these wine to be powerful and aromatic. Aside from the typical “cigar box” flavours of tempranillo, Ribera is full of black fruit, and a distinct mocha, cappuccino aroma. They’re often compared to Argentinian Malbec, for their lively acidity and their powerful youthful fruit that develops into spice and leather with age. Modern styles are usually 100% tempranillo, emphasizing the grape’s full potential, with six months to a year spent in new French oak.

Wines from the region’s west tend to be more fruity and aromatic. To the east, sandy, pre-phylloxera soils produce wines that are linear, powerful, and robust. In general, though, many wines are a blend of grapes from different areas of Ribera.

The History of the Ribera del Duero Wine Region

The history of almost all Spanish wine can be summed up with a single equation.

Romans + Monks = Wine

Of course there might be some other variables and historic trigonometry to sort out, but that’s the basic gist of things. It’s true of Rioja, and it’s true of its younger brother, Ribera del Duero.

The Romans kicked off wine production here in at least 1,500 years ago. We know that thanks to a massive (66 square metres!) mosaic from the 4th century. It represents Bacchus, Roman god of wine. (Or should I say represented*, since it was looted by robbers in 2011).

Modern Ribera, however, started with the monks. Benedictines from Cluny (the one in Burgundy) came here in the 12th century, bringing their knowledge of winemaking. They cultivated local tempranillo on limestone slopes similar to the ones in Burgundy.

But wine was still mostly made for locals. It took another 700 years for quality wine to arrive in the region.

The Ribera Revolution

In 1864, Eloy Lecanda y Chaves opened up Bodegas Vega Sicilia. He got his training in Bordeaux, and returned to his native Spain with a handful of French grapes.

He planted cabernet, merlot, and malbec alongside local tempranillo. Vega Sicilia is now one of the (if not the) most influential wineries in Spain. The royal families of Spain and England count among its customers!

For a long time, Ribera wines followed the example of Vega Sicilia, creating tempranillo-led Bordeaux blends. But in the 1970s, a new sheriff came to town.

Alejandro Fernández launched a Ribera revolution at Bodeas Pesquera, creating wines from 100% tempranillo aged in new French oak. He released his wines earlier than Vega Sicilia, highlighting their fruit, richness and easy-drinking nature.

Since then, Ribera has become well known for this new style of wine. In fact, it’s even convinced more than a few Riojan producers to follow suit!

Owing to the success of these wines, investors have flooded the region in the last 50 years. When Ribera was made a D.O. (an official Spanish winemaking region) in 1982, only 15,000 hectares were planted with grapes, with only 9 wineries. Today, there are more than 55,000 hectares and over 270 wineries!

So now you’ve got the basics, what else do you want to know about Ribera del Duero?

The Land of Ribera del Duero

Drive two hours north and you’ll get to the rocky, hot plains of Ribera del Duero. The area that Jancis Robinson unflatteringly called a “barren plateau between Valladolid and Aranda” is full of castles and vineyards, segmented in two by 70 miles of the flowing Duero river.

The wine production is based around a handful of main towns. The most important are Peñafiel in the west, Roa in the north, and San Esteban de Gormaz in the east.

Follow that river west and you’ll be taken through Portugal’s Douro Valley and out onto the Atlantic.

Here we’re in the region of Castilla y Leon, Spain’s medieval core. There are 55,000 acres (22,500 hectares) of vines here, with more than 270 wineries! Most of these are in the province of Burgos, spilling out over Segovia and Soria too.

High on Spain’s central plateau, the meseta, grapes grow most commonly between 750-800 metres in altitude. As a result, there are massive diurnal swings here, with temperatures plummeting at night.

That’s for the best, given the intense climate of the region.

The Climate

Welcome to smack bang in the middle of the Iberian peninsula. Ribera has a continental climate with some Mediterranean influences. Summers can reach 40°C (over 100°F), and winters drop below freezing.

Rainfall is rare, just 450mm a year.

While Rioja is protected from Ribera’s continental climate by the Sierra de la Demanda, the same is true in the reverse. Ribera gets none of the cooling breezes from the sea!

Given the extreme climate, vintage variation is more diverse in Ribera compared to Rioja. The wines tend also to have higher alcohol levels, more body, and more pigmentation in the wine’s colour.

The Soil

The Cluny monks who made wine here in the 12th century fell in love with Ribera’s limestone slopes. Today the best wine still comes from these parts of the region, but there’s a fairly high level of soil diversity.

Sandy-clay soils dominate south of the Duero river, and there’s also some alluvial soils in the east and along the riverbed.

The Grapes of Ribera del Duero

Just like Rioja, Ribera del Duero is red wine territory.

And let’s not be coy, really it’s tempranillo territory. Locals here call it Tinto Fino; the most common clone in Ribera. But other grapes grow here too, as well as a single white variety.

Yields are restricted to 7,000 kilograms per hectare, but the average harvest is around 4,000kg. Amazingly, more than one-third of the vines in Ribera are over 35 years old!

In the region’s east, the vines surrounding the town of San Esteban de Gormaz grow on sandy clay soils. Given the infertile soil, most of these vines are pre-phylloxera! The wines from these vineyards are elegant and powerful.

The Red Grapes of Ribera

Tinto Fino is all the rage in Ribera. That’s the name of the local tempranillo clone. In Spain, you’ll find more names for tempranillo than you ever thought possible!

Although a handful of reds are planted, Tinto Fino makes up 95% of all the region’s plantings. Compared to tempranillo grown elsewhere, Ribera wines are more potent and full-bodied, with robust fruit aromas. They also have a characteristic mocha or cappuccino note that I personally love!

To get the Ribera del Duero D.O. label, red wines must contain at least 75% tinto fino.

While most modern wineries produce 100% tinto fino wines, a few other red wine grapes are grown. Especially at the old-school wineries like Vega Sicilia, these other grapes are used to blend with tinto fino.

Perhaps just due to Lecanda y Chaves’ training, all the other black grapes are from Bordeaux. You’ll find a few parcels of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and malbec planted in Ribera’s west. Grenache, known locally as garnacha tinta, is also authorised.

The White Grapes of Ribera

While whites are only a tiny portion of the planted grapes, they’ve only been permitted by the D.O. since 2019!

At the time of writing, the only permitted white grape is Albillo. Recent genetic tests have shown that this grape is one of tempranillo’s parents! It’s good to keep things in the family.

The Wines of Ribera del Duero

Red wines from Ribera became a tapas bar favourite in the last 50 years. Their fuller body and richer fruit flavours make them the perfect accompaniment to the roast meat dishes that prevail in Castilla y Leon and Madrid.

Compared to the wines over the mountain range in Rioja, there are subtle, but important differences. Ribera is more powerful, bigger in body and tannin, and with more concentrated colour.

The modern Ribera style also packs bigger fruity and oaky aromas, ready for quick consumption and easy drinking. But that’s not to say that these wines are rushed out. In fact, Ribera wines undergo the exact same ageing treatment as their Rioja cousins, and follow the same naming conventions (see below).

The Albillo whites that come out of Ribera are simple and fruity, though hard to find. Rosados are also on the rise, made with at least 50% authorised red varieties mixed with Albillo. They’re full of red fruit, and a little woody herbaceousness.

While some wines, like Vega Sicilia’s Unico, go for over 400 euros a bottle, most Ribera is affordable. In Spain, locals can pick up a great bottle for between 15 and 40 euros. In general, Ribera offers a better mid-tier wine than most consumers can afford from Rioja!

Classification According to Ageing

Each bottle of Ribera wine has a label indicating its age. It’s not just telling you the vintage, it also represents the amount of time the wine has spent maturing in a barrel and chilling out in a bottle.

The four classifications are:

• Joven
• Crianza
• Reserva
• Gran Reserva

Joven wines are the youngest and freshest, having spent no time maturing in barrel. These wines are usually released in the year following the harvest, and are meant for early drinking! Expect to find flavours of ripe black fruit and some very unsubtle tannins.

Crianza wines are the most popular. These babies are aged for two years before release, at least one of which has to be spent in oak barrels. If you order a Ribera at a tapas bar, this is most likely what you’ll get. That’s for the best, as it tends to be the most versatile when it comes to food, with a good balance between fruit and oak flavour.

Reserva wines take three years to age. At least one of those has to be spent in oak, and at least one spent in the bottle. Expect these wine to have a few more spiced, leather, and cigar box aromas.

Gran Reserva wines are only produced in years with exceptional harvests. They’re the rarest (and most expensive) wines, spending at least five years ageing before release. Two of those have to be spent in barrel, and at least two must be spent in the bottle. Reflecting their special vintages, these wines are elegant, balanced, and one of the best representations of tempranillo you can find.

Bear in mind, however, that many producers choose to ignore these rules. They’ll just use the simple Joven/cosecha label, and age the wines in whatever way they want!

What does Roble mean?

More and more often, you see wines coming out of Ribera del Duero labelled as “Roble”.

This is another ageing classification, but it’s not an official one. Rather, winemakers will put it on the front label as a way of saying that their wines have spent a little time in oak, but not long enough to qualify as a crianza. Usually, it’s around six months.

It’s a growing trend among reds, producing wines with full fruit aromas and touches of new French oak.

The Wines to Know

So now you’re all clued up on Ribera, what are the wines you need to know?

• Vega Sicilia (specifically, their Unico line. Bear in mind that unless you’re a millionaire or a royal you might never get your hands on a bottle.)
• Bodegas Pesquera
• Bodegas Finca Villacreces
• Dominio de Pingus
• Hacienda del Monasterio
• Aalto Bodegas

Read more and references

If you’ve made it to the end, thanks for reading my guide to the wines of Ribera del Duero! If you want to keep learning about the most important Spanish wine regions, don’t miss my guides to Sherry, Rioja, and Priorat.

You can see all of my guides to Spanish wine, right here.

To get more info on Ribera, check out the official website of the D.O. Ribera del Duero.