2020 Ausas Interpretacion, Ribera del Duero

Interpretación has been and will remain 100% Tempranillo (or Tinto Fino, as it is known in Ribera) sourced from some of Xavier Ausàs’s favourite villages in the region. Moradillo de Roa—Ausàs’s highest source at 950 metres—brings power, freshness and structure, while the white blanqueros soils of Roa de Duero provide “a chalky sensation in the mouth and minerality”, says Xavier. Gumiel del Mercado, with its clay soils, delivers fruit generosity and acidity, and the stony terroir of Nava de Roa at 700 metres brings elegance and blue flowers. Xavier purchased this last site in 2020, and it now makes up 40% of the blend. 
 
The grapes are given a cold soak before fermentation with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel and concrete vats. The wine ages for 14 months in French oak (just 30% new) in two sizes: half in 225-litre casks and half in 500-litre demi-muids. The wines are sensitively vinified by parcel, and blending takes place just before bottling (unfiltered).
 
“2020 marks the fifth vintage of ex-Vega Sicilia winemaker Xavier Ausàs’ own project and continues the run of impressive releases. Based on grapes from his own vineyards in Nava de Roa, with the remaining 60% sourced from growers in Gumiel de Mercado, Moradillo de Roa and Roa itself, this is a plush, perfumed, well-balanced Tinto Fino, with aromas of Asian spices and chocolate, a palate of tangerine and blackberry, supple tannins and an undertow of acidity. 2024-32.” 

95 points, Tim Atkin MW, Ribera del Duero Special Report