Ribera del Duero

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The climate exerts a marked influence on the grapes, due especially to the high average altitude of the zone.
• The zone enjoys good sunlight, exceeding 2,400 hours of sunshine per year, with warmth during summer, véraison, and ripening.
• The vineyards are located in a strip of the Duero river basin approximately 115 kilometres long and 35 kilometres wide, between Soria, Burgos, Segovia, and Valladolid. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

• To produce quality wines in this marginal zone it is necessary to limit vine yields and to avoid late-ripening varieties.
• The Tinto Fino variety has adapted to the zone over the years, becoming a native grape, and for centuries it has been used to produce fine, age-worthy wines appreciated by consumers.

• The red wines display an abundant phenolic richness in which blue-violet hues derived from anthocyanins and vitisins stand out, alongside tannins of high polymeric quality.
• The wines possess a well-balanced natural acidity, and the extended ripening also brings about a natural softening of the tannins.

• Slow ripening combined with the significant diurnal temperature swings achieves excellent formation of compounds during the day while minimising their metabolic breakdown at night.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the specification (pliego de condiciones).

All appellations in Spain

Sources

• Specification (EUR-Lex, single document)
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-ES-A0626
• Official trade body site — D.O. Ribera del Duero