2018 Alvides Tercera Generación Ribera Del Duero

Tempranillo thrives in Ribera del Duero’s warm climate, and 2018 was an exceptional vintage—one of the warmest and driest in Spain’s history. That made the decision to produce a Tercera Generación easy for Alvides: They only produce it in the best years, and it was clear from the beginning of harvest that their most prized fruit—grown on gnarled, 75-year-old vines—would be going to this bottling.

Those old vines provide small-berried, thick-skinned bunches that produce powerful, hedonistic wines—but also retain an energy and liveliness that sets them apart. So Alivides spares no expense on their treatment. 

Winemaker Héctor Casado lets the grapes hang on the vine until they achieve peak ripeness. Then, his team of ace harvesters pick the tiny bunches under cover of night, when the balance between acidity and potential alcohol is optimal. Those grapes are sorted in the vineyard and then carefully loaded into small bins—it’s a lot more labor to hand-carry them than to use larger bins that can be lifted by forklift, but it’s worth it.

Finally, once the grapes arrive in the winery, they’re sorted again, and only the most pristine bunches make it into the Tercera Generación. They’re given a week-long cold soak to help extract pure fruit without the harsh tannins that come along with it, then they undergo a temperature-controlled fermentation in small stainless tanks, which results in a luxurious texture.  

Finally, the wine is aged for nearly a year and a half in new oak, 75% of it French, the rest of it American—an homage to old-school Spanish bottles. The result, aged further in the cellars of the bodega, stands toe-to-toe with expensive, full-bodied reds across the world.

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 14.70%
• 1 hour
• Now – 2035
• % Tempranillo
• Serving temperature – 60°
• Cork