Terreus Paraje de Cueva Baja - Bodegas Mauro - 2021

75 cl

Robert Parker: 98+ points

Alcohol content: 14.5 % vol.

Grape varieties: 100% Tempranillo

Vinification:

Vinified in wooden barrels. Terreus is then aged for 20 months in new French barriques.

Tasting note:

Terreus Cima de Cueva Baja 2021 is one of the best vintages of this exceptional red wine, which comes from the top terrace of a vineyard 800 metres above sea level. The special microclimate makes for a deep, complex, powerful and nuanced wine that is one of the best in the Duero region and has a longevity like few others. The grapes are cooled before being sorted on a sorting table, destemmed and transported by gravity (in an "ovi"-like vat) to the stainless steel tanks where fermentation with indigenous yeasts and malolactic fermentation take place. It matures for 20 months in French oak barrels. The good thing about these wines is that they are produced in good quantities, as there are 10,000 bottles of them. It was bottled in August 2023. It has a long life ahead of it. Bravo.

Bodegas Mauro:

Mariano Garcia is a name of the utmost importance in the Spanish wine world, and it is fair to say that he is an unrivalled oenological legend. He worked for the Spanish icon Vega Sicilia for 30 years and was responsible for the legendary Unico for many years. That alone is a lifetime achievement, and that at a time when the Ribera del Duero region was still completely unknown and Vega Sicilia was more or less working alone in the field, flying the flag for world-class and cult wines. But then the desire to produce his own wine gained the upper hand, and so in 1978 he began to build his own winery near the village of Tudela del Duero, along with the associated paellas. Unfortunately, the boundaries of the newly created DO Ribera del Duero were drawn in 1982 in such a way that the winery was excluded. Of course, this does not bother Mariano Garcia, because with such a prestigious name, the wines would sell just as well. The reality proves him right! Today, the bodega cultivates 45 hectares, planted with Tempranillo, Garnacha and Syrah.

These varieties provide the basis for the wine that is simply named like the bodega - Mauro. In winemaking, he relies on the same practices that have already propelled Vega Sicilia into cult status: late harvesting of fully ripe grapes, longer extraction and maceration periods followed by ageing in French oak. The fact that Garcia's wines are only marketed as country wines is not really a problem. The Mauro and the "Mauro Vendemnia Seleccionada", which is only produced in excellent years, are among the most sought-after wines in Spain. The "Terreus", a pure Tempranillo from the small single vineyard "Paraja de Cueva Baja" is one of the very best wines in Spain and has long enjoyed that magical cult status, regularly scratching the magical 100-point mark in international ratings. The Godello that Mariano Garcia produces in Bierzo is also extremely remarkable.