Pesquera Tinto Reserva Especial, Ribera Del Duero, Spain 2010

VINEYARD AND PRODUCTION

Selected from vines within the boundaries of Pesquera de Duero, with a south-facing exposure at an altitude of over 800 metresSOIL: Poor, very pebbly soils over a clay subsoil.CLIMATE: The 2010 growing season began with a characteristically cold Ribera del Duero winter. After normal early spring weather that enabled the vines to begin their budding around the usual dates, late spring frosts typical of the area hit the region’s vines. The effects of these mid-May frosts on the vines brought fears that the vintage would be seriously affected both in terms of quantity and quality. However, the vines coped well with the damage caused to the shoots, helped partly by the water reserves built up in the soils during winter and a part of the spring. Rain in June helped maintain good vine vegetation growth and favoured the new shoots that appeared after the frost. Throughout the rest of the summer, the region had high temperatures, which enabled the ripening process to take place on the usual dates. This process was homogeneous and gradual, thanks to optimal sunlight and temperatures at the end of summer and beginning of autumn, and with the region’s characteristic wide variation in day and night-time temperatures. The harvesting was done on the usual dates and without any adverse weather conditions that might have affected the health of the grapes. For the 2010 vintage, the rank of excellent was given for the second year in a row by the Ribera del Duero Wine Council. The impact of the May frosts resulted in almost 20% less production compared with the average amount produced over the first ten years of the 21st century.