Arrocal, Ribera del Duero DO (Castilla y León, Spain) 2019

 This is undoubtedly one of the strongest values I’ve tasted this year, and is quite possibly the single best red wine during 2021 I’ve tasted for fewer than $20.  I base that not only on its sheer deliciousness for current enjoyment but also its capacity for further development, and above all on its combination of those two virtues — a combination of virtues usually found only in notably more expensive wines.  This is meaty, muscular Tempranillo (with little dashes of 2 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 1 percent Merlot), and though you will agree immediately with my descriptors when you taste the wine, it really isn’t heavy despite its muscularity and intensity of flavor.  Dark cherry and blackberry fruit is in the driver’s seat, with spicy backnotes and some savory accents and plenty of fine-grained tannin that is outrun by the fruit in the wine’s finish.  There’s almost no sensory sign of oak, except for the softening effect of oxygen exchange from used barrels — and skillful racking between them during the wine’s élevage to soften it and render it so expressive for current enjoyment only 19 months or so after the fruit was picked.