Isaac Fernández, Ribera del Duero Reserva (Castilla y León, Spain) 2019

 This is terrific Tempranillo crafted by one of Spain’s more talented winemakers.  I was fortunate to spend a day tasting in multiple bodegas with Isaac Fernández, and though I’m glad to disclose that I have a friendship-in-the making with him, I’m ruthlessly objective by inclination and long experience.  This wine’s gorgeous color and very concentrated pigmentation lets you know you’re in for an exciting ride even before you get your nose above your glass.  What then hits home is beautifully balanced oak spice and expressive fruit notes recalling black cherries and dark berries.  The tannins are abundant and there’s wood tannin atop the grape tannins, so this deserves a full decade of cellaring if you can manage that, but with decanting and food with some dietary fat, it is already utterly delicious.  What I like most about this is its combination of very big flavor impact with an equally palpable sense of proportionality and class.  Very experienced tasters learn that great wines taste great at every stage of their development, and this fits that description already, and will continue to do so for a very long time.  This wine is not made in every vintage — only when conditions seem promising.  I am damned glad it was made in this vintage.