Hacienda Monasterio
Reserva
Ribera del Duero
2019

The producer

Close to the town of Valbuena de Duero, at an altitude of 730 metres and overlooking the valley, this 160ha estate of Tempranillo, with small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec has the manicured look of the finely developed and tended vineyard that it is. The wines are vinified in the gravity-fed winery at the top of the vineyards with impeccable selection of fruit and aging in a mix of old and new French oak. The results are outstanding examples of Ribera del Duero, especially the Reserva.

The wine

Fruit for the Reserva bottling is sourced from the finest of Monasterio’s south facing vineyard parcels. A blend of 80% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, the fruit is 100% destemmed and then ferments with 28 days maceration. Finally, barrel ageing takes place over 16 months and includes 40% new Allier oak.  Compact black stone fruit concentration with purple flower fragrance and chiseled mineral nuance in the fruit, silky and structured tannins, sweet spices, and a long finish – the result is an outstanding example of Ribera del Duero.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.