Celia

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Juan Carlos Vizcarra is a man of intensity, passion, and incredible ambition. Though his family has grown grapes in northern DO Ribera del Duero for more than four generations, he was the first to make estate-bottled wine from this fruit starting in 1991. The story goes that when he was a boy, he noticed that the historic estates of Vega Sicilia and Pesquera would come to his family in bad vintages to buy fruit. Realizing that his family must have truly special vineyards of the highest quality, Juan Carlos took it upon himself to begin producing wines to express this blessed terroir and heritage. Juan Carlos and his wife have 2 daughters, the eldest of which is Celia – who is now helping him in the winery and studying enology full time. As one might imagine, Celia and her sister’s bottling (Inés) are the flagship wines of the Vizcarra estate. Production every year amounts to a total of 2100 bottles, and comes from a single, steeply sloped vineyard featuring some of the oldest and most pristine vines on the estate. Like all the wines at the tiny winery at Bodegas Vizcarra, Celia is made using gravity-fed winemaking to preserve the freshness and elegance that are intrinsic to the limestone-inflected plantings found in northern Burgos. Meticulous in everything he does, Juan Carlos applies his detail-oriented approach to every facet of the winemaking process. This is a wine meant for the cellar, and, stored properly, will continue to improve for at least 20 years in bottle.

WHAT MAKES THIS WINE UNIQUE?

Celia is a limited-production, single vineyard wine of 2,000 bottles, made only in the very best vintages. Named for Juan Carlos’ eldest daughter, this wine combines power and elegance in the distinctive manner of the best Ribera del Duero wines. Truly a benchmark bottling, Celia speaks to Juan Carlos’ position as one of the best winemakers in the appellation.

RATING HISTORY:

2020 97WE, 95TA; 2019 96WE, 91W&S; 2018 96WE 'Cellar Selection', 95TA; 2016 95WA

GRAPE:

93% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), 7% Garnacha. Tended in clay, limestone and gravel soil from 820 - 840 m (2,690 - 2,755ft) elevation.

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS:

Grilled rare or medium rare lamb chops are a perfect match, as well as grilled grass-fed beefsteak or pork tenderloin with rosemary.

VINIFICATION AND AGING:

After careful bunch selection from the vineyard's best vines, the best berries are selected for this wine. Then go into new, 400L open-top barrels (50%) and concrete tanks (50%) for maceration and also, for alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. Malolactic fermentation takes place for 25 days with pumping over three times per day. Celia is aged for 18 months in 95% French and 5% American oak barrels with the last 2 months in foudre. During this period, the wine is racked only once. The wine is bottled without any filtration or cold stabilization.

LOCATION, SOIL, CLIMATE:

Vineyards are located in the town of Mambrilla de Castrejón, Ribera del Duero DO, at 849 meters (2,785 ft.) elevation. The topsoil is composed of clay and limestone and the subsoil is gravel. To offset an undesirably high rate of vegetative growth, Juan Carlos reduces yields by thinning grape clusters from 20 to 8 per vine and by allowing other wild herbs to flourish around the vines. This helps maximize the intensity and concentration of the grapes. From its higher altitude, Ribera del Duero's northern central area has a cooler climate than either Toro or Rueda. An extreme Continental climate, with cool nights and hot days with moderately low rainfall, provides a longer ripening period, and results in wines with greater complexity and more expressive, intense aromas.

TASTING NOTES:

Lurid ruby. Heady aromas of fresh dark berries, cherry liqueur, vanilla, potpourri and incense, along with a minerally topnote. Sweet and velvety in texture, offering intense, palate-staining blackberry, cherry cola and rose pastille flavors enlivened by a jolt of juicy acidity. Velvety tannins build slowly on the impressively long, penetrating finish, which leaves behind notes of dark berry preserves and candied flowers.-- Josh Raynolds

ALCOHOL CONTENT:

14.5%

UPC CODE:

8437008409641

BOTTLE WEIGHT:

1.7 lbs (.79 kg)