Priorat vs Ribera del Duero

The Consejo Regulador cites wine residues found at the Vaccaean site of Pintia, in Padilla de Duero, as evidence that wine was known in the region 2,500 years ago. Its first minutes date from 23 July 1980, and on 21 July 1982 the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food granted Ribera del Duero its Denominación de Origen. Jancis Robinson writes that Vega Sicilia gained some recognition for the intensity of its wines only at the end of the 19th century, and that it was not until the mid 1980s that Alejandro Fernández of Bodegas Pesquera established the region as a source of high-quality, long-lived wines.

Ribera del Duero sits on the northern Castilian meseta where Burgos, Segovia, Soria and Valladolid meet in Castilla y León, and the pliego describes a wine strip about 115 km long and 35 km wide with the Duero as its axis. The Consejo Regulador counts 118 unidades poblacionales: 64 in Burgos, 5 in Segovia, 25 in Soria and 24 in Valladolid. MAPA's 2022/2023 report lists 26,744 hectares of registered vineyard, 7,495 growers and 345 registered wineries.

The Consejo Regulador describes a Mediterranean climate whose primary trait is continentality, with dry summers, long harsh winters, rainfall below 400 mm a year and temperatures ranging from -20 to 42 °C, and places the vineyards between 720 and more than 1,000 metres. The pliego records day-night differences of 15 to 20 °C during ripening and a frost-risk period running from 17 September to 6 June.

The pliego describes a basin formed during the Miocene whose sediments are mostly silty or clayey sands alternating with layers of limestone, marl and calcareous concretions, generally with basic pH and little organic matter. The Consejo Regulador describes three main soil types: fine reddish-brown soils that retain water, white soils rich in calcareous salts, and stony soils that retain none. Susie Barrie MW writes in Decanter that alternating limestone, sand and clay can be seen across even the tiniest plots.

Ribera del Duero's pliego authorises Tempranillo (Tinto Fino or Tinta del País), Cabernet Sauvignon, Garnacha Tinta, Malbec, Merlot and Albillo Mayor, with Tempranillo the principal variety for reds and Albillo Mayor for whites. Reds must contain at least 75% Tempranillo and whites at least 75% Albillo Mayor. The pliego sets red wine at a minimum of 11.5% vol and caps yields at 7,000 kg per hectare for all varieties except Albillo Mayor, at 9,500 kg.

Ribera del Duero's pliego builds its ladder on ageing: red Crianza needs at least 24 months with 12 in oak, red Reserva 36 months with at least 12 in oak and the rest in bottle, and red Gran Reserva 60 months with at least 24 in oak and the rest in bottle, in barrels of at most 330 litres. Wines labelled Roble or Barrica spend at least three months in barrels of up to 600 litres. Labels may name one of the unidades poblacionales when 85% of the grapes come from it, although Susie Barrie MW writes in Decanter that no neat sub-regional distinctions like Rioja's exist for Ribera.

Ribera del Duero's pliego describes red Crianza as showing red and/or black fruit alongside oak aromas at least at medium level, balanced, with sufficient acid freshness and medium to high body and persistence. Susie Barrie MW names firm tannic structure, marked acidity and high alcohol as hallmarks of Ribera's wines, and writes that traditional styles generally use more American oak while modern styles use more, newer French oak.

Jancis Robinson writes that Aalto, Alión, Alonso del Yerro, Emilio Moro, Pago de Carraovejas, Pesquera, Dominio de Pingus and Vega Sicilia have all produced some fine wine, and that Vega Sicilia matures wine in small barrels for years longer than any other producer she knows. Susie Barrie MW describes Aalto as the creation of Mariano García, winemaker for 30 years at Vega Sicilia, and Javier Zaccagnini, former head of the Consejo Regulador.