Abadia Retuerta Pago Valdebellon, Castilla y Leon, Spain

天使之堤酒莊巴爾德貝隆園紅葡萄酒

點擊次數：1374

The 2019 Pago Valdebellón, their single-vineyard pure Cabernet Sauvignon comes from their higher-altitude plot and the vines have smaller leaves and thicker skins to resist the intensity of the sun there. 2019 was a dry year with low yields and small grapes. The uncrushed grapes fermented with 15 days of maceration, and the wine matured in French oak barrels, new for the first year and then was transferred to used barrels for a further six months. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.67; it's young, modern and serious, very concentrated and wide, full-bodied and with rounder tannins. 6,644 bottles were filled in May 2021.

The pure Cabernet 2018 Pago Valdebellón reflects a cooler year with more availability of water in a powerful way, with good ripeness and more freshness. The grapes were picked between the 20th and 22nd of October and fermented with 12 days of maceration. It matured in new French oak barrels for 16 months. This is serious, deep and complex, with a varietal profile adapted to the place, keeping the herbal notes but with good ripeness (14.5% alcohol), peppery and developing notes of paprika, more serious, less fruit-driven. It has good grip, with fine tannins and subtleness and elegance. Clean and elegant, with some incipient complexity. 5,150 bottles were filled in May 2020.

There are pungent green pepper aromas in the 2017 Pago Valdebellón, perhaps from the shorter cycle and rushed ripening of the Cabernet Sauvignon in this very warm year. It has some roasted notes, super fine tannins and a minty finish. This is more like the old school Bordeaux than the creamy and luxurious modern ones. 6,862 bottles were filled in May 2019.

The pure Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 Pago Valdebellón shows better ripeness and is less herbal than the 2017 I tasted next to it. It has notes of cassis, spices and a minty touch. It has finesse and feels young. It's polished and sleek, with very fine tannins and great freshness, and it finishes with a spicy, paprika-driven twist. This has potential to develop in bottle. One fine Valdebellón but with less character, more polished, sleek and luxurious. 5,052 bottles were filled in May 2018.

The Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 Pago Valdebellón feels quite ripe, and there is a notable absence of green aromas, leaning more toward paprika or roasted morrón peppers (a descriptor I sometimes hear in Chile). It's varietal with a Mediterranean touch, and the palate is velvety, with noble tannins, round and lush. With time in the glass, it turns more balsamic, with some minty notes and hints of camphor. 9,244 bottles, 400 magnums and 20 double magnums were filled in May 2017. It's been nicely polished by one year in bottle and has the components and balance to age nicely in bottle.