JC Vizcarra Ribera del Duero 2014 | Mountain Purity, Spanish Tenacity
JC Vizcarra Ribera del Duero 2014 displays deeply purple, glass-staining color. Layered aromatics of dried plum, black currant, creamy vanilla bean, dried herbs, bay leaf, and dill. While full-bodied mouthfeel with lush tannins and sustained finish. Drink now-2025.
92 Points Vinous | JC Vizcarra Ribera del Duero 2014 presents opaque ruby. An exotically perfumed bouquet evokes ripe dark berries, violet, and vanilla, along with a smoky oak overtone. While sweet, seamless and expansive in the mouth, offering intense black and blue fruit flavors complemented by mocha and mineral flourishes. Yet, supple tannins shape the smoky finish, which hangs on with impressive, dark-fruit-driven tenacity.
High Elevation Means Great Concentration
So, Ribera del Duero is home to the highest red wine vineyards in all of Europe; the vines harvested for this bottle sit at roughly 2,800 feet in elevation. Since the exposure and coolness of the raised plateaus complement the region’s extreme Continental climate. Yet sweltering by day and chilly by night. Rainfall is limited, but the limestone-clay soil is adept at retaining it. As a result, these conditions make for a longer growing season. Hence allowing grapes to reach perfect phenolic maturity and ripeness. Finally distilled in a knock-your-socks-off aromatic bouquet, as complex as it is heady.
Proprietor & Winemaker Juan Carlos Vizcarra
Ribera del Duero is home to the highest red wine vineyards in all of Europe; the vines harvested for this 2014 JC Vizcarra sit at roughly 2,800 feet in elevation—for context, the highest vineyards planted in Napa top out around 2,600 feet. High elevation translates to the purity of fruit, good acid and powerful tannins, all hallmarks of balanced wines. The “JC” behind the label is Juan Carlos Vizcarra, and he’s crafting some of The Wine Advocate’s favorite wines from Ribera. The Advocate has praised Vizcarra’s releases as “sensational values,” writing that “it is rare to find such delicious Ribera del Duero priced under $35
Back in 1991, when Juan Carlos Vizcarra founded his winery, Ribera del Duero hardly even registered as a dot on the world’s wine map. Following in the steps of his father, who made wine in the region in the 1980s. Vizcarra arose as one of the forerunners of the garagiste movement in Spain. While dedicated to small production wines and unsparing rigor in the vineyards. Over the decades, his top wines have competed with the country’s legends such as Vega-Sicilia’s Único, while his entry-level wines have few equals. Robert Parker has described Vizcarra’s releases as “sensational values,” writing that “it is rare to find such delicious Ribera del Duero priced under