2013 Dominio del Aguila Ribera del Duero

2013 was certainly not an easy vintage in Ribera del Duero, but it's one of those years where the ones that knew how to read the vintage achieved better wines than in an 'easy' vintage. I'd say that's clearly the case of the 2013 Reserva from Jorge Monzón. It's aromatic, expressive, floral and still very Ribera, subtler and fresher without losing the essence of the place. They already have their style, identifiable; they always use 100% full clusters, but only use grapes from ripe stems, even in 2013, a year where it was easy to find herbal aromas and lack of ripeness in too many wines. The challenge in a vintage like this with old vines and mixed varieties is that some of them didn't achieve the necessary ripeness and they had to keep them out of the vats. It has the spark of electricity, the tastiness and emotion of the greatest wines from the region. It's balanced and fresh, in a very different way from the 2012, with a different texture. It's in vintages like this when people demonstrate what they are capable of, and often produce their best wines. I think this is the case with this Reserva, which has to be among the best wines produced in the appellation in 2013. Simply stunning!