Purity and power

Unlike Bordeaux, with its 60 minutely defined appellations, or Burgundy, with its monastic heritage of precisely sketched vineyard parcels, Ribera del Duero is something of a blank canvas. Its single DOP, which was only awarded in 1982, covers 5,000ha of vines that traverse 123km in the Provinces of Burgos, Valladolid, Soria and Segovia (though there are many more hectares in the region). Such poetic and evocative names translate into the sometimes-harsh reality of Castilla y León’s central plateau.

The aridity and extreme temperatures, however, are mitigated by the specific conditions of the Duero river basin. It was here, in 1864, that Spain’s most famous winery, Vega Sicilia, wrote the first chapter in the story of the wines of Ribera del Duero. That story continues to excite and captivate. There are now 315 wineries in the region, covering some 23,205ha and producing an average of 100 million bottles every year.

Despite the well-rehearsed extremes