O Penedo Tinto Adega a Barouta 2021 (750ML)

96 Points, Luis Gutiérrez, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate: “I also tasted the second vintage of the single-vineyard red 2021 O Penedo, which was radically different from the 2020 I tasted next to it. The blend is different, 50% Caíño and 50% Brancellao, a first change, with 1% less alcohol. 2021 was rainy, cold and challenging, and the wine has stronger herbal notes. Even though it was a more complicated vintage (they had black rot) and they had lower yields (they lost half of the crop), the result is a much more delineated wine than the 2020. In the cellar, they were looking for more pleasure in the wine and decided to use more Brancellao, because Caíño can sometimes be too austere, and they did a shorter maceration with slightly higher temperatures, more Loire than Gredos, and it has some vegetal notes that can remind you of Cabernet Franc. The varieties fermented together with full clusters and indigenous yeasts, and the wine matured in a 500-liter oak barrel for close to 16 months, as they feel the Ribeiro wines need a long élevage and time in bottle. The whites will be given an even longer élevage. It has 11% alcohol, 6.6 grams of tartaric acid and notable acidity, which makes you salivate with flavors of acid strawberry and a stony, dry minerality, almost saline, very peppery/balsamic. They kept referring to Pinot d'Aunis when talking about this wine. They believe they have found the way for reds, after having experimented since 2014. This is the finest Ribeiro red I've ever tried. Only 600 bottles were produced. It was bottled in May 2023. This won't be released until May 2024. It should develop in bottle for a long time.” 11/23