Pago de Carraovejas, Ribera del Duero (Castilla y León, Spain) 2019

 This is entitled to designation as a Crianza but isn’t labeled as such, nor was the 2018, and that’s a good thing in my view, as both vintages are higher in quality than the impression lent by that designation, and lower in degree of oak-obviousness.  Now a very sizeable bodega, whereas it looked more like a big shed when I first visited here a couple of decades ago, it is also very finely equipped and appointed, indicating both commercial success and a lot of re-investment.  The 2019 shows deep color and flawless aromatic and flavor balance of fruit to oak — with lots of both.  That is not intended as a back-handed compliment, as the fruit is energetic but not at all obvious, and the oak is plentiful, but reserved in toast impact and quite classy.  The 2018 – tasted in late April in the USA – is alluringly mineral and is developing beautifully (93 points), and though the 2019 is now tighter and more in need of aging, it is on track to be just as good with more time.