2017 Pago Valdebellón Cabernet Sauvignon, Abadia Retuerta

The estate itself was founded in 1146 as the Abbey of Santa Maria de Retuerta. Having been passed through different families it came to its current form in 1988 with a winery then being established in 1996 with plantings on land previously owned by Vega Sicilia. At the hands of Pascal Delbeck of Chateau Ausone they undertook an incredibly complex soil investigation to find the most ideal plots for the most ideal grape varieties. Thus the vineyards of Abadia Retuerta were born. Despite not being within the political Ribera Del Duero denomination, the vineyards are very much on the revered "golden mile" albeit a couple of minutes into neighbouring Sardon del Duero. Valdebellon is a single site with a particular micro climate and a unique soil composition

Single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon with a pungent, punchy nose of balsamic, cloves and wild herbs, followed by blackcurrant and a twist of orange peel in the mouth.

After sorting, the grapes were fermented at low temperature with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks for around 1 to 3 weeks; during this time, gentle extraction was performed by delestage and remontage. After a spontaneous malolactic fermentation in tank, a unique system devised by Pascal Delbeck was used to move the wine to "IFO" steel mini-vats, allowing pump-free racking without moving the tanks. This was followed by 19 months in oak barricas of 225L.