Hacienda Monasterio Ribera del Duero Crianza 2021

The superb 2021 Hacienda Monasterio was produced with 80% Tempranillo, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot/Malbec cropped at 14.5% alcohol from a cool year. The soils have a high proportion of limestone that marks the wines with a stony and chalky personality, and this 2021 has even more restraint and seriousness. The oak is neatly integratedit spent 18 months in French oak barrels, 20% of them new, with a small portion in oak vats and 500-liter foudres. Carlos der Río compared it with the 1996 (possibly the greatest vintage at the property… together with this?), a year with clean, ripe fruit, contained ripeness and alcohol and terrific balance on the palate. It feels like it can age for a very long time, as it has the components, the freshness and acidity and the balance to develop nicely in bottle. This is the direction they want for future vintages. They produced 237,200 bottles. It was bottled in June 2023.