Spain: a 2021 vintage with great ageing potential

A peaceful year… After a slightly milder-than-usual winter in December, the cold weather comes in January, covering the Ribera with a beautiful layer of snow and very negative temperatures, but proved to be warmer than average from February until the end of the season.

Late pruning limits the damage caused by the April frost and over a period of several days, we see quite significant variations in day/night temperatures: from - 2°C to 15°C.

At the end of April, with the spring rains, budburst begins at such a pace that by mid-May, the 5-6th leaf stage is already upon us. However, the vine’s momentum is quickly slowed by a lack of water that was to become a familiar refrain over the season, avoiding any cryptogrammic pressure. To the extent that ripening came late, on August 16th. But then the rains came at the beginning of September, triggering growth in the vines. Whilst rainfall varied across the Ribera appellation as a whole, it was lower than for recent vintages, with barely 360mm over the year.

Final ripening goes well, favoured by the absence of rain until harvest, day/night temperature variations and good daylight. All these factors contribute to fine-tuning the dates for harvest dates, without any concerns about phenolic ripeness.

Harvesting began on October 1st with the Albillo grapes, followed by the first Tempranillo grapes, particularly from the Camino Gumiel and Lirios plots. Harvesting was complete by the second half of October with good phenolic and technological ripeness in healthy grapes.

The wines, recently drawn from the vats, show good acidity, pointing to great ageing potential.