We were eating steak and roasted mushrooms with some wine-loving (and generous) friends just before the holidays. There were fancy bottles: mature Bordeaux, '99 Dunn and '94 Dominus, and more. And they were singing! 
 
But one lesser-known bottle of Spanish wine was holding its own in that crowd. It had the fruit and complexity of just-mature traditional Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero, combining the punchiness you want for pairing with charred meat with the elegance to make you want to keep going back to it, even after the food was done. 

The name, Mirat de Tinar, 2004 Ribera del Duero, rang a bell. And pretty soon we figured out why: Jeff had offered the wine three years ago when we bought (and sold) everything we could! In fact, people emailed requests for second servings for months and months. Unfortunately we just didn't have any more wine back then. 

The excitement around that original offer made sense. We were pretty thrilled to have found a RdD made in the old school style -- literally inspired by Vega Sicilia -- that performed so beautifully at such a reasonable price. And one that was brand new to New York.
 
The proprietors of the winery, Valdevinas, founded it in the 1990s with the Vega Sicilia model in mind. Like Vega Sicilia, they chose to hold their wines back until ready to drink, and the 2004 was then a recent release. With extra time the wine has just come that much more into its own: a touch more mature, a touch more integrated, but still full of punch and RdD character.

One thing that had changed, however, was that the owners had gotten tired of trying to appease the appellation's bureaucrats. In their view the region had become too focused on internationalized-style wines that turn their back on the local traditions and models like Vega Sicilia itself. On top of that, staying in the appellation meant paying more in fees -- costs which eventually get passed on to us. 

So they dropped out of the appellation and began putting new, non-Ribera del Duero labels on the bottles in their cellar. And now those newly-labeled mature bottles have landed and we're thrilled to be able to share them with you. For the best price, grab three or more bottles (no code necessary)
 
Thank you,
Josh
Bodegas Valdevinas, Ribera del Duero Tinar De Mirat Seleccion, 2004 - $49.99
Jeff had this to say about the wine last time, and it's all still true, but with a little more emphasis today on the wine's maturity (though, to sure, it was great with steak and would be delicious with your next roast suckling lamb): "The wine, like any great Ribera del Duero, is fleshy and a little plummy, with the signature freshness that tends to distinguish these examples of Tempranillo from nearby Rioja (in Ribera the altitudes are higher, the nights are colder and there is more limestone in the soil). The extended aging has brought a smooth elegance to the wine and lovely nuance to the fruit profile, while also accentuating Ribera's earthy-meaty side. It is a serene wine that also manages to show liveliness and vigor. It is definitely a great wine for cordero asado, if you eat lamb, but it has now been sufficiently tamed by time in the bottle that I would happily drink it with something as simple as a chicken salad."