2018 Bodegas Arrocal Seleccion Especial Ribera del Duero 750 ml

The 2018 Arrocal Selección Gumiel del Mercado Ribera del Duero is the exact kind of bottle that will leave you stunned—but in the best way possible. Deep, full bodied, and beautifully balanced, the wine was made from 45-year-old Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) vines from the Las Astrales Vineyard, which sits at an elevation of 2800 feet in a cool pocket sheltered from Ribera’s otherwise toasty climate. 

Boasting a dense but graceful profile led by black cherry, rose petals, and exotic spices wrapped in chocolate, this is an exemplar of Ribera power, grace, and outright hedonism that earned 93 points from Vinous. Most of it gets snatched up in Spain and Europe, but our wine team worked overtime to secure some for our members. 

Ribera del Duero has a deep history. Winemaking there dates back two millennia, and Vega Sicilia, one of the region’s marquee estates, started producing wine there more than 160 years ago. A little over a century later, the international wine spotlight found the region, attracted by bold local wines like Tinto Pesquera, then was forever captured by cult wines like Peter Sisseck’s priceless Pingus.

Owners Rosa Arroyo and Moises Calvo grew up in the small municipality of Gumiel de Mercado, and inherited their land from their parents. Back in 2002, when a winery backed out of a contract, Arroyo and Calvo made their first wine, bottling and selling it under their own label, Arrocal (Arro- from Arroyo and -cal from Calvo). Today, their sons Rodrigo and Asier represent the dynamic fourth generation, raising the bar of quality ever higher at this estate. 

This banger of a bottle proves that they’re in the big leagues.