B-21 Top Recommendation
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Legendary among Spanish wine lovers for his highly acclaimed, site-specific Riojas, pioneering winemaker Telmo Rodriguez established his ambitious Matallana project in Ribera del Duero in 1998, seeking to craft a "very good Vega Sicilia" that expressed the unique diversity of the region by blending the local clone of Tempranillo, known as Tinto Fino, with lesser-known, indigenous Ribera varietals.
"This is a superb, classical Ribera del Duero with ripeness, concentration, balance and elegance..." - Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
Working with his partner Pablo Eguzkiza, Telmo began to track down the region's oldest vineyards that had often been abandoned and required restoration, purchasing tiny, high-quality plots from 40 different families to assemble 21.5 hectares of mainly unirrigated, old bush vines and adding a field blend of massal-selected grapes. Working with farmers across five different villages to manage the parcels organically, Telmo sourced the grapes for the 2021 Matallana from eleven vineyards with a mix of soils ranging from quartz-rich or pebbly soils reminiscent of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the south to chalky albariza limestone and clay-heavy sites in the north, each one producing a different expression of Tinto Fino. Fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel and oak vats, the pure and vibrant WA97 Matallana demonstrates the freshness from a cooler year, described by Decanter as "a real balancing act of complexity and flavor layering with underlying power and promise of great things to come."
Ranking among the region's highest-scoring reds at a mere fraction of its heavy-hitter counterparts, the "savory, subtle, joyful" 2021 Matallana reflects Telmo's enduring commitment to produce a terrific, cellar worthy value that speaks to Ribera's prized terroirs and singular character. As Inside Bordeaux's Jane Anson sums it up in her own 97-point review, "I love seeing what Telmo Rodriguez can do in Ribero del Duero, and so will you." | 
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