2009 Creta Roble Ribera del Duero

90+ points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate: "The 2009 Creta Roble is 100% Tempranillo sourced from a 40-year-old vineyard and aged for 4-5 months in seasoned French and American oak. A glass-coating opaque purple color, it offers up a brooding bouquet of pencil shavings, espresso, Asian spices, incense, and assorted black fruits. Structured on the palate with layers of succulent fruit, this concentrated, lengthy effort admirably reflects the strength of the superb 2009 vintage. Drink this outstanding value over the next 4-5 years." (06/11) We carried the 2007 vintage of this delicious tempranillo, and admired it back then for its great Ribera typicity: dark fruit, a savory meaty quality, spice. It was a brisk seller. The combination of old vines from La Horra, one of the region’s best districts, along with the supervision of the very talented oenologist Isaac Fernandez made for a very complete wine in the challenging 2007 vintage. So in a riper, much more critically acclaimed vintage such as 2009, you can imagine the potential here. This is one of the few oak aged Ribera del Duero’s for under $20 that not only taste great, but also is a great textbook example of the region. I suggest you put in a solid day’s worth of physical labor (or a good workout if that’s more your speed) and enjoy this full-bodied wine with a hearty meal of lamb or your favorite cut of meat and some potatoes.