About the production area:

In the mid-1980s, Robert Parker called a 1982 Pesquera de Duero wines “Spain’s Château Petrus,” setting off Ribera del Duero’s first explosion of recognition from Spanish winemakers and wine critics across the globe. The meteoric rise of the Ribera D.O. has been astonishing, from less than ten properties and a few cooperatives that produced a half-million bottles when the D.O. was established in 1982, there are now over two hundred fifty properties producing 55 million bottles per year.


In addition to high-end wines such as the crianza, reserva and gran reserva wines, established and new bodegas are producing many incredible modern style, high quality value wines.


Located about a two-hour drive northwest of Madrid, Ribera is notably flat, characterized by dry earth, whose dominant colors are ochre brown, milk chocolate and saddle-leather tan. In Ribera, most wines are produced from the Tinto Fino grape, also known as Tinta del País, the local names for Tempranillo.


Ribera’s “golden triangle” is formed by the historic wine towns of Pesquera de Duero, Peñafiel and Valbuena. (This area’s soils, mostly limestone and sand with little clay, yield aromatic, complex wines with bold fruit, minerals, sculpted acidity and sweet, round tannins.) Here are Ribera del Duero wines with the most finesse.


They are remarkably high quality wines with bold fruit and a great price/value quality.

Ribera's oldest winery, Bodegas Vega Sicilia, released its first red wines in 1915, and the property and its wines have since become legendary in Spain, benchmarks for excellence.


Today, Ribera's top winemakers produce affordable high-quality wines, and its value wines compete with those from Rioja, France, Italy and California, making Ribera wines a revelation for wine buyers and consumers.


Pesquera de Duero, have helped the region gain global prominence. Some of its wines are now grouped with the best of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Barolo and Napa.