Galia Villages 2015

The regular Galia has been renamed and is now the 2015 Villages since there are two more reds in the portfolio this year. It's a blend of grapes from different soils in all the villages they work (Piquera de San Esteban, Fuentelcesped, Hontangas, Cuevas de Provanco and Trigueros del Valle), trying to represent the Duero Valley as a whole. It has an intoxicating, perfumed and really attractive nose full of flowers, wild herbs and spices. The palate is medium-bodied and has the elegance and poise the nose was pointing out, with ultra refined tannins, great balance and freshness. It has to be one of the most elegant wines produced from the Ribera del Duero zone, and it doesn't show any of the heat from the warm and dry 2015 vintage. They included the white grapes from their vineyards in Piquera, Fuentelcesped and Trigueros, so the estimated breakdown of the blend is 88% Tempranillo, 10% Garnacha and 2% Albillo—and 100% produced in their own, brand new winery. All this must have contributed to a more relaxed wine, with perfectly integrated oak and a sense of harmony and elegance despite the 15% alcohol and relatively high pH (3.8). It fermented with indigenous yeasts, with some full clusters and aged in oak barrels and vats of different sizes for some 20 months. 14,559 bottles and 196 magnums were filled in June 2017. I was really blown away by this.