Isaac Fernandez, Ribera del Duero Reserva 2019
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View from the Cellar
The 2019 Isaac Fernández Reserva is made entirely old vine Tempranillo, with the goblet- trained vines all more than eighty years of age. The soils in these higher altitude, organically- farmed vineyards are primarily limestone, with a light vein of clay running through them. The wine is fermented with native yeasts and aged fully two years in new French oak casks. The 2019 version comes in at 14.5 percent octane and offers up a very refined and complex bouquet of plums, black cherries, Cuban cigar wrapper, brown spices, chalky soil tones, a touch of bonfire and a very nicely done, discreet framing of smoky oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a beautiful core of fruit, lovely soil signature, fine-grained tannins and a very long, poised and seamlessly balanced finish. This is a great wine in the making, but it will demand a good decade of cellaring to let its chassis of tannin relax properly. 2034-2075+.
This is terrific Tempranillo crafted by one of Spain’s more talented winemakers. I was fortunate to spend a day tasting in multiple bodegas with Isaac Fernández, and though I’m glad to disclose that I have a friendship-in-the making with him, I’m ruthlessly objective by inclination and long experience. This wine’s gorgeous color and very concentrated pigmentation lets you know you’re in for an exciting ride even before you get your nose above your glass. What then hits home is beautifully balanced oak spice and expressive fruit notes recalling black cherries and dark berries. The tannins are abundant and there’s wood tannin atop the grape tannins, so this deserves a full decade of cellaring if you can manage that, but with decanting and food with some dietary fat, it is already utterly delicious. What I like most about this is its combination of very big flavor impact with an equally palpable sense of proportionality and class. Very experienced tasters learn that great wines taste great at every stage of their development, and this fits that description already, and will continue to do so for a very long time. This wine is not made in every vintage — only when conditions seem promising. I am damned glad it was made in this vintage.
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