It’s one of the wine world’s best kept secrets. Ribera del Duero, a Spanish wine region often overlooked in favour of its better-known neighbours but producing exceptional wines beloved by locals.

While Rioja is hard to beat for its fame, 50 miles south lies Ribera del Duero which is fast becoming Spain’s “most fashionable region,” according to the Financial Times.

It’s based within the magnificent region of Castile and León (or Castilla y León for those in the know), specifically the four provinces of Burgos, Valladolid, Soria, and Segovia where the river Duero flows.

The story of Ribera del Duero is that apart from the presence here of the famous Vega Sicilia estate, which was established in the 1860s, and started producing wines that became acknowledged world classics, the region otherwise was pretty much ignored until the 1980s.

There were just nine bodegas in the whole region when it became a DO in 1982. Now there are more than 300, and the region is often mentioned along with Rioja and Priorat as producers of Spain’s finest wines.

It is best known for deeply flavoured, complex reds made from Tempranillo, here called Tinto del País or Tinta Fino. The combination of altitude, soils of schist and wide day/night temperature differentials produce reds that are vibrant when young but gain complexity and depth when aged.

Tempranillo is the region’s King grape, but here it’s more often called Tinta del Pais or Tinto Fino. 

It's the grape used primarily used in Rioja, known for producing deeply coloured wines with strawberry or cherry, flavours and traces of leather and spice, However, in Ribera the grape has adapted to the challenging climate to create wines which are normally darker and more structured, intensely purple in colour with aromas of blackberry, combined with black forest fruits.  

The region also produces a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, and Garnacha.  

And while it’s predominantly red wine which gets exported, a tiny number of whites are made for the local market from the Albillo grape which creates aromatic wines dominated by apple and peach flavours. 

In short, it’s all about terroir. Unless you’re something of a wine buff you may be scratching your head at this term. Put simply, it’s a French word which encompasses the key natural elements which contribute to winemaking: climate, soil, grape variety, and altitude. 

If grape growers and winemakers respect those natural elements, they can harness them to grow grapes of exceptional quality. 

The vineyards of Ribera del Duero lie at some of the highest altitudes in the northern hemisphere, exceeding 1,000 metres above sea level in some areas where conditions can be unexpected and extreme. 

The region benefits from a Mediterranean climate, with a continental influence and an extreme nature; it boasts dry summers, long and harsh winters, low rainfall, and a significant difference in temperatures throughout the year (from as low as -20ºC all the way up to 42ºC). This results in small grapes with thick skins, which ripen slowly and can be harvested later than in other regions. 

Meanwhile the soil, made up of layers of silty or clay sands, limestone, and rock, helps produce structured wines with elegance and maturity

Senda de los Olivos Crianza 2016

 First striding out in Navarra, the Sigala Mangione family bring the same expertise to Ribera del Duero. This seductive 92-point Crianza is crafted from high-altitude, old-vine Tempranillo, while a year in cask brings smoky spice to the fresh fruit.