Ribera del Duero is definitely an up and coming region of Spain, which is interesting because it's such an old region - and the Atauta is an exemplar of that. Old vines really means old vines in this part of the world, and on top of that the region was so remote that the vines were unaffected by phylloxera and are ungrafted, 60 to 150 years old tempranillo vines.
It's a deep inky purple, but fairly thin. The nose was very interesting at first, black fruit, coffee, spicy notes, and then it was followed with similar dark fruit, blackberry, black currant flavors. But as rich as the nose was I expected a bit more body. And over a hour or two open much of the nose went away too quickly. At about $30 it was a bit over my preferred budget for Spain - at that price there are other great choices, and this wasn't one I'd buy again. Tasted 11/3/09.
It's a deep inky purple, but fairly thin. The nose was very interesting at first, black fruit, coffee, spicy notes, and then it was followed with similar dark fruit, blackberry, black currant flavors. But as rich as the nose was I expected a bit more body. And over a hour or two open much of the nose went away too quickly. At about $30 it was a bit over my preferred budget for Spain - at that price there are other great choices, and this wasn't one I'd buy again. Tasted 11/3/09.
