Bela - Elite Wines®

Bela, Villalba de Duero, Ribera del Duero

High intensity cherry-red color iwth purple notes in the boarder. Aromatic complexity where we find floral notes and red fruit such as currant, raspberry, etc. All this softened and complemented by fine notes of sweet spices and the nuances of the wood from the barrel (vanilla, clove…). It is a wine of passage marked by a tasty tannin and with personality, the end of mouth takes us to an long and fruity aftertaste with a final minerality that confers elegance and finesse.

Bela

Wine	Scores	Downloads	Reviews
Bela, Villalba de Duero, Ribera del Duero 2020	94 James Suckling This has a pretty nose of pink peppercorns, dried violets, blueberries and licorice. Medium-bodied, vibrant and fresh with layers of purple fruit and flowers, supported by fine-grained tannins. Vegan. Drink now or hold. 92 Vinous The 2020 Arano is 100% Tempranillo sourced from multiple vineyards in Moradillo de Roa, Ribera del Duero. Aged for 15 months in new French oak, this purple-hued wine presents aromas of black fruits, licorice, wild herbs and reductive-like bloody nuances atop a subtle oak layer. Dry, rich and juicy on the palate, the chalky and taut mouthfeel leads to a long-lasting and compact finish.	Bottle Image Label Image Shelf Talker Tech Sheet
Bela, Villalba de Duero, Ribera del Duero 2021	92 Wine Advocate The bread-and-butter wine here is the 2021 Bela, produced with Tempranillo from the village of Villalba de Duero (mentioned on the label), from sandy and clay rich soils on limestone mother rock that delivers powerful but not overripe wines with a short-ish élevage to achieve a fine-boned and fresh wine. The grapes were picked between October 1st and 25th, mostly Tempranillo but some 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot too, and it matured in French oak barrels for nine months. The wine has 14.3% alcohol, a pH of 3.57 and close to five grams of acidity, textbook parameters from the zone and textbook profile of classical Ribera; it’s ripe without excess, with very integrated oak and a velvety palate with silky tannins. It reminds me of the historical wines from the early 1990s, Valribeño and so on, with some rusticity but very honest and characterful. With time in the glass, it develops a precise note of licorice intermixed with berry fruit and some spices and herbs. They feel this is the wine they wanted to produce from the beginning; they consider it their best vintage to date irrespective of the style of the year, with 2019 more powerful, 2020 more elegant and this 2021 something in between. 85,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2022. 90 Vinous The 2021 Bela Villalba del Duero is 95% Tempranillo and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from Villalba del Duero and was aged for nine months in oak barrels. Purple in hue. The fruit-forward nose offers plum and blackberry over a layer of oak. Indulgent and rich on the palate, the juicy flow and grippy texture establish a lingering, fruity mouthfeel.	Bottle Image Label Image Shelf Talker Tech Sheet