Deep ruby color; cherry, blackberry, blueberry, plum, oak, vanilla on the nose and palate.
Dry; moderate, ripe tannins and acidity. Medium body. The wine is 100% tempranillo from vines planted in sandy loam soils with pebbles. After fermentation, it spent five months in new oak, 50% French and 50% American—a fact the label touts: “5 meses en barrica.” [five months in barrel]. Value wine with some elegance. 14.5% ABV
Located in the heart of Ribera del Duero, Bodegas Monteabellón is a enterprise of the Garcia family who brought generations of wine experience when they founded the winery [bodega] in 2000 in the small town of Nava de Roa in north-central Spain, 120 miles north of Madrid. They take pride in their past, and that they deliver the latest technical advances to their operation.
The winery asserts: “At Bodegas Monteabellón we use the latest winemaking techniques to guarantee meticulous elaboration during the entire process, conserving stable levels of temperature and humidity, just as it was in the old cellars of our ancestors. Optimal facilities to control in detail the aromas and flavours our wines release.”
Monteabellón is environmentally committed. No insecticides or herbicides are used. “Leaving secondary fauna to eliminate possible pests that cause damage to our vines. This leads to fuel savings, the reduction of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere while favouring the proliferation of bees in our environment, by not using products that reduce their numbers.”
They also are a company “socially committed to disability inclusion, that is why we maintain a collaboration agreement with ande soria, an association that works for the integration of people with intellectual disabilities, dedicating their efforts to the creation of socio-cultural content programs.”
Monteabellón Tempranillo 5 Meses en Barrica, Ribera del Duero 2020 is easy-going tempranillo effort with refreshing acidity and freshness. A crowd pleaser that pleasures rather challenges. Impressive effort at its price point. Balanced, straightforward presentation of tempranillo. Pair with beef dishes—grilled, braised, barbecued; lamb; pork; grilled, barbecued chicken; sausage; tapas; pasta dishes; lasagna, pizza, dishes with tomato-based sauces; Mexican and Tex-Mex food; spicy food; wild game—venison, boar, wild turkey. Cheese—manchego is classic; sheep milk cheese; pecorino, idiazabal, roncal; medium and long-cured cheeses; brie and camembert with rind; cantal; aged cheddar; goat cheese—fresh chèvre. $14-16
