Ribera del Duero: The Spanish Bordeaux

The Duero River flows through for as long as 897 kilometers, of which 572 are located in Spain and 213 belong to Portugal. The rest is international territory.

This river in its middle -- or as a Ribera Del Duero’s wine producer would say, in his heart -- slides on terraced slopes. The area traversed in this sector has a remarkable thermal range: 40 ° C summers, winters of -18 °C and only 450 mm rainfall.

It is here in a territory with imaginary boundaries sorting out Soria, Segovia, Burgos and Valladolid, where the work of 260 wineries gives connotation to a wine of exceptional quality, seen in the world of wine as the Spanish version to Bordeaux.

The region is 115 kilometers long and width not exceeding 20 km, being Tempranillo, Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, and Grenache (red) and white: the Albillo, are the only grapes authorized by the DO.

In this area, the regulated production per hectare is 7,000 kilos, but many producers regulate production by its own to a considerably lower figure. Those who collected more than this limit cannot allocate these surplus wines from the Ribera del Duero.

This small region provides more than 600 brands for consumption, and these wines are segmented from young wines to Gran Reservas, so every wine lover may has the exact taste his palate demands.