2021 Protos Bodega Ribera Duero, Protos '27 Tinto - Ribera del Duero Cosecha - 3 Bottles (0.75L)

93 Tim Atkin
Protos 27 2021 (Excellent vintage) comes from 50-year-old Tinta del País (Tempranillo) vines, located mostly in the province of Burgos, at over 800 m altitude. These are very low-yielding vines, planted on south-facing slopes in soils poor in organic matter, with a yield of around 2,500 kg/ha. These vines are hand-picked into small 20-kilogram boxes; once in the winery, the best bunches are selected one by one on a sorting table.

After a few days of cold pre-fermentation maceration to maximize the aromas, fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks at a maximum temperature of 25°C. After a 20-day maceration, the wine was transferred to new French oak barrels, where it underwent malolactic fermentation. It then aged for 16 months in the same barrels and finally spent 12 months refining in the bottle before being released.

Protos was—with the exception of Vega Sicilia—the first winery in Ribera del Duero. It was founded in 1927 after the union of 11 winegrowers and was one of the wineries that promoted the creation of the Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin in 1982. It is located in Peñafiel, where the old winery stands at the foot of the Castle, with 2 km of galleries dug into the mountain, perfect for aging the wines. Connected to this by an underground tunnel is the new Protos winery, designed by Richard Rogers.