Bodegas Arrocal, Ribera del Duero (Castilla y León, Spain) 2020

 This is the top wine from a terrific producer, but I found it to be rather reticent when cracking into it last week, though it became more expressive when left uncorked during the days that followed (four days, to be precise).  Accordingly, I have somewhat ambivalent advice:  If you have a cellar and a love for great Tempranillo that’s been patiently aged, you’ll certainly love this wine when it really starts singing around the turn of this decade.  Everything about it presages excellence at a minimum and greatness as a possibility, as it is very deep in color, quite concentrated and dense in physical terms, smartly aged with oak that is showy but not excessive, and loads of fine-grained tannins that seem very well measured in relation to the fruit’s intensity and richness.  However, if you are looking for a wine that you can open to enjoy now, you’d be happier with Arrocal’s 2021 “Selección Especial” release, which is only half as expensive but just as satisfying for current consumption.  That will change at some point that I can’t date precisely, when the 2020 “Reserva de Familia” is going to take flight and make my seemingly generous score of 95 points look low — possibly embarrassingly low.