Dominio de Atauta 'Parada de Atauta', Ribera del Duero, Spain 2020

Description

Lively deep red cherry colour Aromatic and very delicate on the nose, with fresh red fruit aromas and notes of violets, thyme and rosemary. On the palate it is fresh and fleshy at the same time, with a considerable concentration of red and black ripe fruit accompanied by silky tannins. Good balance, elegant and subtle, with a fresh and mineral aftertaste.

Dominio de Atauta is built on rock on a hillside of the valley, surrounded by vines. It slopes down into the valley on four levels, which allows us to elaborate our wines taking advantage of gravity without damaging the excellent raw material. The harvest is always done by hand and the grape enters through the upper floor, from where they fall by gravity to the tanks located on the next floor. On a third level is the barrel cellar, where there are about 600 French oak barrels. The region of Atauta has remains of a rich winemaking past where El Plantío stands out, a set of 14 wineries and presses carved out in limestone rock. They were built mainly during the 19th century, although the first registers of the existence of vines date back to 1201.

Wine Advocate 93

The youngest of the reds here, the 2020 Parada de Atauta was selected from 90+-year-old vines on sandy soils from a rainier and cooler year that they compare with 2016. The grapes fermented destemmed in concrete and stainless steel and underwent malolactic in concrete followed by 13 months in French oak barrels, 20% of them new, plus four more months in concrete before being bottled. It's slightly lighter and less ripe than the 2019 (which I also tasted on this occasion), with 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.6 denoting freshness and balance. It has a creamy nose that combines red berries with darker ones and some sweet spices and smoke in a subtle and harmonious way. The tannins are very fine and the mouthfeel quite silky. 52,823 bottles and 900 magnums produced. It was bottled in August 2022.

James Suckling 92

Notes of dark cherries, plums, chocolate, hints of sandalwood and cloves. Full and chewy with tight-grained tannins and succulent fruit underneath. Linear and focused with a chalky minerality at the end. Try after 2024.