Viña Magna Reserva 2019

The bright ruby colored 2019 Viña Magna Crianza is a modern Ribera del Duero with good ripeness and generous oak without excess, coming through as juicy and spicy, quite approachable and easy to understand by a wide audience looking for this clean and modern style of Ribera. It's a blend of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec that gives it a somewhat international and commercial style. It has a surprisingly high alcoholic degree at 15.5%. It's juicy and heady and develops notes of vanilla, cinnamon, dark chocolate and espresso coffee with time in the glass. 65,231 bottles and 601 magnums produced. It was bottled in June 2021 after 14 months in French oak barrels.

Racy dark berries, dark plums with mocha, walnut and a hint of balsamic. Juicy and chewy on the medium- to full-bodied palate followed by a long, yet still fruity, finish. Needs two more years to let the tannins integrate. Drink or hold.

Made with grapes from one of the highest sites in Burgos - the views are correspondingly spectacular - this is an assemblage of Tinto Fino with 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% each of Merlot and Malbec. Aged in new French oak, but not marked by it, Ángel Calleja's Crianza is a subtle, modern, well-balanced red with red cherry and blackcurrant fruit and a sheen of coffee bean and vanilla sweetness. 2023-28