Inés

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Juan Carlos Vizcarra is a man of intensity, passion, and incredible ambition. Though his family has grown grapes in northern DO Ribera del Duero for more than four generations, he was the first to make estate-bottled wine from this fruit starting in 1991. The story goes that when he was a boy, he noticed that the historic estates of Vega Sicilia and Pesquera would come to his family in bad vintages to buy fruit. Realizing that his family must have truly special vineyards of the highest quality, Juan Carlos took it upon himself to begin producing wines to express this blessed terroir and heritage. Juan Carlos and his wife have 2 daughters, the youngest of which is Ines. As one might imagine, Inés and her sister’s bottling (Celia) are the flagship wines of the Vizcarra estate. Production every year amounts to a total of 2100 bottles, and comes from a single, steeply sloped vineyard featuring some of the oldest and most pristine vines on the estate. Like all the wines at the tiny winery at Bodegas Vizcarra, Inés is made using gravity-fed winemaking to preserve the freshness and elegance that are intrinsic to the limestone-inflected plantings found in northern Burgos. Meticulous in everything he does, Juan Carlos applies his detail-oriented approach to every facet of the winemaking process. This is a wine meant for the cellar, and, stored properly, will continue to improve for at least 20 years in bottle.

WHAT MAKES THIS WINE UNIQUE?

Inés is a limited-production wine of 2000 bottles, made only in the very best vintages from two of the oldest parcels on the estate. Named for Juan Carlos’ youngest daughter, Inés features a dollop of old-vine Merlot and Albillo in the blend, which gives it a bright, silky character and bolsters its elegance.

RATING HISTORY:

2020 93TA; 2019 96WE, 92WA; 2018 95WE, 93TA; 2016 96WA

GRAPE:

90% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), 8% Merlot, 2% Albillo. Vines planted from 1950 - 1995. Tended in clay, limestone and gravel soil from 820 - 840 m (2,690 - 2,755ft) elevation

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS:

This rich, silky red is a perfect match for grilled lamb and other big flavors (like the famed lechazo, or suckling lamb, of Ribera), as well as mushrooms and earthy vegetable dishes.

VINIFICATION AND AGING:

After careful bunch selection from the vineyard's best vines, the best berries are selected for this wine. Then they go into 400L open-top barrels (50%) and concrete tanks (50%) for maceration and also, for alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. The skins mix with the unfermented juice for 4-5 days using dry ice. Inés is aged for 18 months in 95% French and 5% American oak barrels with the last 2 month in foudre. During this period, the wine is racked only once and then bottled without any filtration.

LOCATION, SOIL, CLIMATE:

Vineyards are located in the town of Mambrilla de Castrejón, Ribera del Duero DO, at 849 meters (2,785 ft.) elevation. The topsoil is composed of clay and limestone and the subsoil is gravel. To offset an undesirably high rate of vegetative growth, Juan Carlos reduces yields by thinning grape clusters from 20 to 8 per vine and by allowing other wild herbs to flourish around the vines. This helps maximize the intensity and concentration of the grapes. From its higher altitude, Ribera del Duero's northern central area has a cooler climate than either Toro or Rueda. An extreme Continental climate, with cool nights and hot days with moderately low rainfall, provides a longer ripening period, and results in wines with greater complexity and more expressive, intense aromas.

TASTING NOTES:

Glass-staining ruby. Highly expressive, mineral-accented cherry and blackberry aromas are complicated by suave floral, vanilla and Asian spice nuances. Sappy, sweet and broad on entry, then more taut in the middle, offering densely packed black and blue fruit flavors that slowly become spicier and more energetic as the wine opens up. Shows a sweet fruitcake quality on the extremely persistent, oak-spiced finish, which is framed by fine-grained, harmonious tannins.-- Josh Raynolds.

ALCOHOL CONTENT:

14.5%

UPC CODE:

8437008409658

BOTTLE WEIGHT:

1.7 lbs (.79 kg)