2023 Matallana

Dark fruit, spices and thyme with stony austerity. Medium- to full-bodied, leaning toward medium. Incisive and fresh. Vibrant and cohesive with an angular palate and very focused, chalky tannins. This needs some time.

Since in 1998, the project has taken a different approach to Ribera del Duero, focusing on reviving historic wine villages and replanting vineyards in their best soils, from the limestone slopes of Sotillo de la Ribera to the red-hued hills of Pardilla, aiming to create a distinctive, site-driven expression of the region. Today, Matallana comprises 21.5 hectares of estate vineyards, most planted over the last 20 years, in a style that emulates old vineyards. The 2023 vintage was warm, with high temperatures in summer and autumn and uneven rainfall patterns, including a dry spring but a wetter summer and relatively normal autumn. A notable late-season warm spell in September helped complete ripening and protected the grapes from fungal pressure, resulting in a balanced maturation. The 2023 Matallana fermented in oak and stainless steel vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in French oak barrels of different ages for 14 months. It's still young, creamy and covered by the baby fat and some smoky and spicy notes from the élevage. It's a wine for the long haul; it's balanced, powerful and elegant, with the stuffing and harmony to develop nicely in bottle. It should make a classical Ribera bottle: relaxed, with character and a fine thread, a velvety palate, elegant and with very fine tannins. Just 13,369 bottles were produced, which is a lot less than in 2022. It was bottled in July 2025.

Love the unfussy brilliance of this wine. So much depth, spiralling through the palate, liqourice root, slate, olive pit, lavender, sleek blue and black fruits, characterful and lifted, precise, vivid, mouthwatering. 21.5ha across eleven vineyards, winemakers Telmo Rodriguez and Pablo Eguzkiza.