JC

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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. Like all the wines at the tiny Bodegas Vizcarra, the flagship JC Vizcarra is made using gravity-fed winemaking to preserve the freshness and elegance intrinsic to the limestone plots found in northern Burgos. Meticulous in everything he does, Juan Carlos applies his detail-oriented approach to every facet of the winemaking process. With painstaking attention paid to every detail from vineyard to bottle in the 10 parcels farmed for JC, Juan Carlos is able to express the elegance and freshness intrinsic to this special land he farms by hand, without the use of chemicals. In the JC bottling, he offers a wine to age, one that will improve with a decade or more in the bottle. He avoids unnecessary over-extraction and heavy oak, preferring instead to let the natural power of Tinto Fino (known elsewhere as Tempranillo) speak for itself. The finesse and power that results is classic Ribera.

WHAT MAKES THIS WINE UNIQUE?

Estate bottled Ribera made exclusively with gravity-fed winemaking for a more finesse-driven profile. Bright and elegant with restraint in its natural power and impeccable balance, JC is a vin de garde in the classic Ribera vein.

RATING HISTORY:

2020 93WE; 2018 92 WA; 2016 92WA; 2015 92VM, 90W&S, 90WS; 2014 90 VFTC, 92VM

GRAPE:

100% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo). Vines planted in 1980. Tended in limestone and clay soil at 849 m (2,875 ft) elevation

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS:

The dark fruit and savory, herbal notes in JC Vizcarra are a natural pair with grilled, braised and roasted red meats. For a classic Ribera pair, try it with grilled leg of lamb... but braised short ribs or a rib roast would all make beautiful companions for JC Vizcarra.

VINIFICATION AND AGING:

Gravity is a critical component in Juan Carlos's winemaking. The philosophy is always to be gentle in extracting. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel and malolactic fermentation takes place in barrel. The wine is aged for fifteen months in French and American oak barrels, 50% neutral and 50% two years old.

LOCATION, SOIL, CLIMATE:

The vineyards are located in the town of Mambrilla, at 849 meters (2,785 ft.) elevation. They lie within the northern central area of the Ribera del Duero DO (Zone 2), in the province of Burgos in Castilla y León. The vineyard's topsoil is composed of clay and limestone and the subsoil is gravel. The area's climate has an average temperature from April-October of 60.5F and the average annual rainfall is 18.9 inches. 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. Harvest usually begins the first week of October and ends by mid-month.

TASTING NOTES:

Opaque ruby. An exotically perfumed bouquet evokes ripe dark berries, violet and vanilla, along with a smoky oak overtone. Sweet, seamless and expansive in the mouth, offering intense black and blue fruit flavors complemented by mocha and mineral flourishes. Supple tannins shape the smoky finish, which hangs on with impressive, dark-fruit-driven tenacity.-- Josh Raynolds.

ALCOHOL CONTENT:

14.5%

UPC CODE:

810411011058

BOTTLE WEIGHT:

.99 lbs (.45 kg)