Eat Art Travel: Ribera del Duero part 3 ~ Viña Pedrosa

Viña Pedrosa was founded in 1980 by the three Perez Pascuas brothers, Benjamin, Manuel and Adolfo who took over their father’s 60 year old Tempranillo (known here as Tinto Fino) vines to form the core of the vineyard, and set themselves on the path to making a world-class wine in the then relatively unknown Ribero del Duero region. Today the third generation of Pérez Pascuas brothers are involved in the estate that now comprises 135 hectares of chalk/clay slope with the winery situated on top of the hill just outside the village of Pedrosa de Duero. The altitude makes the overall micro-climate cooler, with a considerable day/night temperature differential. This makes for a lengthy growing season with the grapes hanging longer on the vine for slow ripening, meaning their harvest is often completed weeks after surrounding, lower lying vineyards. The wines are matured in French oak casks to produce serious, multi-layered wines of great elegance and finesse.

The Crianza, aged for 18 months in cask offers a medium to full-body and displays sumptuous aromas of red cherry, chocolate, coffee and black olive tapenade, firm tannins and great life. La Navilla comes from a single vineyard site at an altitude of 844m planted with vines grafted from the oldest and original clone of Tinto Fino. It spends 20 months in Allier oak barrels and like all the Viña Pedrosa wines, has a lovely freshness and precision coupled with a rich, dark fruit profile. The Reserva and Gran Reserva wines are made from 90% Tempranillo vines (which have an average age of 30 and 45 years respectively) and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. The production is very small and as such they are both released in numbered bottles. The Pérez Pascuas Gran Selección is regarded as the “Vino de la Familía” and only 5000 bottles are made. It is produced from the oldest Tempranillo vines (around 60 years old) and is aged for 26 months in American and French oak casks, then three years in bottle before release. At $200 per bottle one can only dream.