Ausàs Interpretación 2022

Produced in what Xavier Ausàs calls the "corpulent" 2022 vintage, this well-judged Tinto Fino from Gumiel de Mercado, Moradillo de Roa and Nava de Roa manages to avoid heatrelated excess. Floral, scented and sweetly oaked, it's a plush, glossy style with a dab of dark chocolate and patisserie spices, flavours of liquorice, clove and blackberry and finely judged tannins. 2026-36. 

The 2022 Interpretación is serious and unmistakably Ribera, with a dark color and aromas of ripe berries, herbs and generous, very high quality oak. It's very classical and powerful, with a creamy profile and abundant tannins that call for a few years in bottle. It fermented mostly in stainless steel, with some concrete too, and matured in French oak barrels, 30% of them new and half of them 500-liter ones. It comes in at 15% alcohol and is full-bodied and powerful. It was bottled in May 2024. (Luis Gutiérrez)