Dominio de Atauta 2021

There is great purity and freshness in the 2021s, and the eponymous 2021 Dominio de Atauta is no exception. Produced with a selection from their best vineyards in the Atauta Valley, it is complex and has depth, good ripeness, 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.63 and 5.05 grams of acidity. They have 25 different terroirs, and this blend comes with complexity, power and elegance, reflecting the conditions of the place and the vintage, with added freshness. It fermented in 5,000-liter oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured for 13months in French oak barrels, 15% of them new, followed by another four months in oak vats to achieve a better stabilization of the wine. 2021 delivered a good crop, and they produced 58,494 bottles and 1,260 magnums. This is among the finest vintages for the cuvée. It was bottled in June 2023.

This is Dominio de Atauta's biggest volume red, so it's amazing that it’s entirely produced from own-rooted pre-phylloxera vines located between 930 and 1,000 metres. Intensely perfumed and alluring, it has aromas of thyme, lavender and pine, plenty of grip and structure, scented wood and a mineral core. Classic Soria. 2025-32

Ripe red cherries, strawberries and some blue fruit and minerals. A touch of white pepper. Full and fine-boned, with chalky tannins on the palate. Long and tight, with signature Atauta tension and reactive tannins from the 130-year-old ungrafted vines in the cooler part of Ribera del Duero. Very long, juicy and minerally, if not a bit salty. Drink or hold.