Classic Ribera from a producer in one of the region’s wildest and most rugged areas, the valley of Atauta. The bodega works with pre-phylloxera vines, 130-190 years old. These vineyards are located at 940m-1,010m, resulting in fresh acidity and elegance. To balance the wine’s lively backbone, it is fermented in either large wooden vats or concrete, then aged for 14 months in French oak. A really complete wine with beautiful fruit, precision and great balance. The oak is fine and lightly toasted so doesn’t dominate the fruit. Tannins are supple, the palate velvety. Keen and succulent: mulberry and cherry with a little bittersweet hit of blood orange and citrus pith. Complexity, and substance. Blackcurrant, liquorice, violets and plum compote. Muscular and concentrated with good balanced acidity and a savoury, herbal character.
95 points, Decanter (Jan 2024)
The eponymous 2020 Dominio de Atauta feels superb, one of the finest bottlings of this cuvée to date. Produced with a selection of the best terroirs from the valley, it was cropped from a rainier year when there was no stress for the plants, which delivered larger and more bunches. They compare 2020 to 2016, another cooler year with vibrant wines and very good freshness. This feels a little lighter next to the warmer and drier 2019 despite having similar parameters of alcohol and acidity/freshness but with an extra kick here. The palate feels terribly balanced and has very fine tannins, great purity and a long, clean and tasty finish. It matured in barrels, 15% of them new, followed by four months in oak vats. This is the second largest production of this cuvée after 2016, with 56,335 bottles and 900 magnums. It was bottled in July 2022.
94 points, Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate (Jan 2023)
This deep-ruby colored wine has aromas of blackberry, violet and cocoa powder. Black-cherry, raspberry, coffee-bean, cocoa-nib, licorice and rose-petal flavors are set into fine-grained tannins. A sense of fruit-filled brightness and chocolate covered mint flavors endure on the palate.
94 points, Mike DeSimone, Wine Enthusiast (Apr 2024)
The 2020 Dominio de Atauta is a 100% Tempranillo sourced from old vines planted in the Atauta Valley in Soria, Ribera del Duero. Aged for up to 14 months in 15% new French oak barrels, followed by an additional five months in large oak vats, it's purple in color. On the nose, it exhibits a somewhat earthy character with notes of crushed cherry, plum and a hint of violet. Dry and relatively rich, the taut, responsive tannins precede a compact, enduringly flavorful finish.
93 points, Joaquín Hidalgo, Vinous (Nov 2023)
Attractive black cherries, red plums, dark chocolate, walnuts, crushed herbs and spices. Full-bodied, broad and chewy with chalky texture to the tannins and juicy acidity. Polished and lengthy. Well crafted. Try from 2025.
93 points, James Suckling (Jan 2024)