Hacienda Monasterio 2015 Magnum

Robert Parker
The flagship Crianza is now simply referred to as 2015 Hacienda Monasterio. This is their biggest production, with some 181,630 bottles in this classical and powerful vintage where the secret was an early harvest to keep the acidity and freshness in the wine and keep the alcoholic degree under control. It's mostly Tempranillo, with 10% each Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, fermented with indigenous yeasts and with long and soft macerations. It matured for some 18 months in French oak barrels, 25% of them new (a percentage that has been gradually lowered in the last few years). It has a balanced nose, with nuance and subtleness, with the oak nicely folded into the fruit, incipient perfume, and even if young, you can almost see where it can go in bottle. The foreign varieties are not really noticed; they are very integrated. The palate has terrific balance and refined tannins. There is no heat or excess ripening whatsoever. For a moment, I thought I was tasting the 2014. This is one of the best and most widely available wines from Ribera del Duero. It should evolve nicely in bottle.

Hacienda Monasterio blev grundlagt i begyndelsen af 1990’erne, da den danske vinmager Peter Sisseck ankom til Ribera del Duero og sammen med Carlos de la Fuente skabte et moderne vinkoncept i det historiske landskab mellem Pesquera og Valbuena de Duero.

Ejendommen dækker omkring 160–170 hektar, hvoraf ca. 78–108 hektar er beplantet med vinmarker. Hoveddruen er Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), suppleret med mindre parcel af Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot og Malbec. Vinmarkerne ligger i sydvendte skråninger med kalkholdig skifer og kvarts – jordbund, som bidrager til vinens finesse og mineraldrevne rygrad.

Vinkælderen blev opført 1991–92 af arkitekten Philippe Maziéres og kombinerer moderne teknologi med naturlige faciliteter: temperaturkontrollerede tanke, rustfri stål og fadlagerrum med naturgrusgulv og analytiske kontrolsystemer. Gæringen foregår med spontane gærceller, og vinene modnes i franske fade med begrænset andel ny eg – altid med respekt for frugt og terroir.