2017 Bela Ribera del Duero Spain 750 ml

Ever since the explosive success of Spain’s First Growth Vega-Sicilia, Ribera del Duero has been ground zero for some of the country’s biggest and richest wines—and not just at the triple-digit price point. This 2017 Bela single-vineyard Ribera, an exciting project from Rioja’s legendary Cune, delivers mineral sophistication and dark polish at an unheard-of price—today we have it at over 50% off SRP, just $16 on cases. Offering high-elevation complexity and freshness, this cuvée will without a doubt be in the running for Spanish value of the year. 

Showing a ruby garnet hue, the 2017 Bela boasts aromas of dried sage and earth over a core of  cassis and dried cranberry tinged with new leather. Minerals, cracked pepper, and green olive tapenade add to the complexity, before it finishes with smooth, polished tannins. 

Ribera del Duero is home to the highest-altitude red wine vineyards in all of Europe, and when Cune—the 138-year-old Spanish producer that minted the country’s first-ever Wine Spectator Wine of the Year—decided to make a single-vineyard, high-altitude Tempranillo, they came here. Joining forces with the Bela winery in Villalba de Duero, CVNE’s goal was to blend the pedigree and sophistication of their Rioja wines with Ribera’s intense power.

The vines at Bela spider deep into the clay and sandy loam soils and flourish by ripening in the roasting sun and shrugging off the hydric stress of the dry summers. The vineyard sits at over 2600 feet, and the exposure of the raised plateaus accentuates the region’s extreme continental climate—it may be sweltering by day, but the chilly nights imbue the wine with classic Tempranillo grace and freshness. 

Cune, or CVNE, is well-known worldwide: It stands for Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España, and they have built one of Spanish wine’s grandest histories over their 140 years. Maria Larrea has been the winemaker for two decades, and brings all her experience and commitment to quality in Rioja to bear in Ribera del Duero as well. The grapes are harvested by hand, sorted rigorously, then cold-macerated to bring out all the complex aromatics in the skins. Then the wine is fermented in stainless steel before six months’ aging in new and one-year-old French and American barriques, a step that adds the sweet spices and gentle smokiness that complement Tempranillo so well.

With the full backing of CVNE, Bela is fast shaping up to be one of the wineries to watch in Ribera del Duero. And at more than half off the $35 SRP, it’s one that you’ll want to stock by the case.