Cuesta de las Liebres 2020 Magnum

A benchmark Ribera del Duero when it comes to quality. Expect the fine integration of high-grade wood, showing notes of peppermint, spices, truffles, dark chocolate, grilled herbs and dark cherry and blackberry fruit. More restrained in oak use compared with the old vintages for sure. Full-bodied and resolved, with seamless, powdery tannins and a juicy, tightly wound finish. Even, polished and effortless for such remarkable balance. It has a high level of concentration, with plush, integrated oak. Drink or hold. (Zekun Shuai).

The top of the range and price hierarchy, the 2020 Cuesta de Las Liebres comes from 3.19 hectares planted in 1994 on a 30% slope surrounded by pine trees. It fermented in small oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in new 225-liter French oak barrels for 24 months. It reached the customary 15% alcohol, showing high ripeness. This is subtler, more elegant, perfumed and a little creamy, with notes of very good quality oak. It's full-bodied, with abundant tannins, a chalky feeling and a long, dry and tasty finish. This should improve with time in bottle. If you pull the cork now, it would benefit from decanting and/or powerful food. 8,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in the 2023 spring. (Luis Gutiérrez)

Cuesta de las Liebres hails from a 3.36-hectare parcel of the same name in Peñafiel, located between 850 and 900 metres, close to the páramo, or high altitude moorland. Now aged in 60% new wood - it used to be 100% - this is intense, spicy and concentrated, all mulberry and summer berry fruit, supple tannins and supporting acidity. Ripe to be sure, but not excessively so. 2027-35