Marqués de Velilla Crianza 2008
Grandes Bodegas S.A. La Horra, Ribera del Duero
Purchased in Düsseldorf [Rindchen’s weinkontor Ellerhorst 1) 25/4/2013 and subsequently every week for about €7.50
The first thing I noticed about the wine was the use of a ‘reserva’ length cork, which boded well for the liquid itself.
The wine was drunk with skate and a salad – so lots of butter and olive oil. It struck me as a good example of a La Horra crianza: big, powerful, significant quantities of oak, both American and French, some fruit, mainly cherry, and a long finish. A very good wine that I will drink again – so I did a week later, this time with Grey Mullet. Again the wine stood up very well to quite a strong fish.
Unlike the Altos de Tamrón 2011 Roble (€4.99) that tasted of sweet vanilla and may have gone well with ice cream, but not with roast chicken.
Subsequent bottles of the Velilla have been mixed, three have been as good as the two drunk above and two have been much more austere with large amounts of American oak and small amounts of fruit, they have also been a little earthy and less unctuous. Maybe we are drinking the wine at a higher temperature and the extra 3 degrees C is making a huge difference or maybe It’s another case of the well known Ribera, same vintage, bottle to bottle consistency.
