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Wine Description
The Story
Valbuena, is the purest expression of the Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) in Vega Sicilia. Tinto Fino is clearly the predominant wine in the assemblage of the varieties that make up this magnificent wine. The other variety used is Merlot, which is added to a greater or lesser extent depending on the vintage.
The Valbuena Tempranillo is obtained from plots located on gentle concave slopes that descend from the wasteland. Those soils are made up of material that was eroded and accumulated as colluvial on the lower slopes, developing a high profile soil, with a specific important evolution with the formation of a deep calcic horizon. Valbuena provides us with a direct and understandable view of the greatness of this "terroir” with the direct influence of each vintage. Its production remains unchanged meaning that it is each year's weather factors that mark the differences between the different harvests.
Fermentation at a controlled temperature with native yeast in stainless steel tanks. Malolactic fermentation also takes place in stainless steel. After fermentation, it is aged for five years, between wood and in the bottle, which is why it is called Valbuena 5º. French and American wood, new and used 225-litre barrels, 20,000 litre vats, a long and complex process for a great wine.
Vintage 2019
Excellent Vintage in Rioja – the ratification of the qualification as 'EXCELLENT' of the 2019 vintage, a milestone that had not occurred since 2011!
After a vegetative cycle with optimum ripening of the grapes, in recent months extraordinary results have been observed in the evaluation of the fermentation tanks, from which the Council's technicians have collected more than 4,500 samples, which have subsequently been tasted by a panel of 150 professionals.
Pablo Franco, director of the Control Body of the Regulatory Council, took stock of the 2019 campaign, referring to the excellent health and vegetative situation of the vineyard and the state of the bunches, loose, well aerated and accompanied by the moderate vigor of the plants. In Franco's words "the year was marked by the stability in the evolution of the vineyard, not exempt from certain very local incidents produced by meteorological phenomena of little general importance".
Regarding the resulting wines, the director of the Control Body of the Council highlighted their quality, underlining the extraordinary maturation in tannin: “a round and very silky tannin that has marked red wines since their elaboration, which is very pleasantly surprising for manifest itself now and especially for having these sensations in wines with a high polyphenolic load such as this year, where the IPTs define a marked structure, with intense colors. In turn, it is worth highlighting the consolidation of lighter tones in the color of rosé wines, with a predominant aromatic expression towards more floral notes. White wines are very expressive, highlighting their great volume on the palate, in line with what is seen in reds. The commitment to autochthonous varieties and the great evolution of the quality of their elaborations is also valued ”.
In the words of Pablo Franco, “there is no doubt that, according to the behavior of the vineyard and in turn what was discovered in the wines, the 2019 vintage is‘ THE harvest ’. A vintage that reflects the true mastery of time management by winegrowers and winemakers ”.
It should be remembered that the amount harvested in the 2019 harvest was around 385 million kg of grapes (of which 342 were red grapes and 43 were white grapes) and 267.27 million liters of the 2019 harvest obtained the certification as wines protected by the DOCa Rioja (22.11 for white, 12.50 for rosé and 233.08 for red).