What makes this wine unique?

This is a wine that can age more than 15 years: an unheard of value for price/quality. This wine is made from estate-owned grapes. This limited-production cuvée is made strictly by gravity. Showcases the powerful character of Ribera del Duero in an elegant and balanced fashion.

Rating history:

Grape:

100% Tempranillo.

Pairing Suggestions:

This remarkable Ribera has beautiful red fruit aromas and flavors on the palate along with vibrant acidity to deftly balance the firm structure and formidable volume. With meaty, herbal, and earthy aromas, this wine has the soul typical of great Riberas and the 2004 vintage’s excellent evolution indicates this wine can age well for quite a number of years. Pair this with lamb shank, roast beef, grilled steak and braised pork shoulder. For more casual fare, beef, lamb or bison burgers on the rare side and ropa vieja are good matches.

Vinification and ageing:

Gravity is a critical component in Juan Carlos's winemaking. The philosophy is always to be gentle in extracting. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel and malolactic fermentation takes place in barrel. The wine is aged for fifteen months in French and American oak barrels, 50% new and 50% two years old.

Production:

1,500 cases are made; 750 for the U.S.

Location, Soil, Climate:

Vineyards are located in the town of Mambrilla, at 849 meters (2,785 ft.) elevation. Lying within the northern central area of the Ribera del Duero DO (Zone 2), in Burgos province in Castilla y León. The vineyard’s topsoil is composed of clay and limestone and the subsoil is gravel. Relatively fertile, the soil has plenty of organic material with good water retention. To offset an undesirably high rate of vegetative growth, Juan Carlos reduces yields by thinning grape clusters from 20 to 8 per vine and by allowing other wild herbs to flourish around the vines. This foliage acts to absorb the potentially excessive water and nutrients from the soil. In reducing the vine’s yield and vigor, Juan Carlos maximizes the intensity and concentration of the grapes. The area’s climate has an average temperature from April-October of 60.5ºF and the average annual rainfall is 18.9 inches. From its higher altitude, Ribera del Duero’s northern central area within Burgos has a cooler climate than either Toro or Rueda, to the west and southwest, respectively. Here, the wines are usually darker, more concentrated and have more forward aromas than wines made in the western part of Ribera del Duero. An extreme Continental climate, with cool nights and hot days with moderately low rainfall, provides a longer ripening period, and results in wines with greater complexity and more expressive, intense aromas. The temperatures at Vizcarra’s vineyards are warmer than the neighboring bodega Torremorón and cooler than Hornillos Ballesteros-MiBal. Harvest usually begins the first week of October and ends by mid-month. These conditions create a longer ripening period, which produces greater complexity and expressive, intense aromas in the wines.

Tasting notes:

J.C. Vizcarra, from a moderately challenging vintage, was the recipient of all the juice that would have gone into the estate’s upper-tier wines. A glass-coating opaque purple color, it displays an expressive bouquet of pain grille, pencil lead, Asian spices, lavender, and blackberry. Ripe, succulent, and structured, it has 2-3 years of aging potential and will provide prime drinking from 2012 to 2020. It is a great value in serious red wine.

Alcohol Content:

14.5%

UPC Code:

810411011058