Francisco Barona 2022 Red

Our wine of the week is Francisco Barona 2022, one of those new, fluid wines from Ribera del Duero that, nevertheless, doesn't quite tick all the boxes expected from the trend.

Trained in Bordeaux, Barona is one of the most brilliant young winemakers in the region. For several years he combined his work as an oenologist with the pursuit of his own personal project. Always focused on old vines, he started buying neglected vineyards -it took him several years to bring them back to life- and bottled his first wine in the 2014 vintage.

Old vines have the advantage of including other red and white varieties in addition to Tempranillo. They bring complexity, acidity and help to compensate for the high pHs levels that Tempranillo tends to develop in Ribera del Duero.

He currently grows his own 48 hectares in the triangle formed by the villages of Roa, La Horra and Pedrosa in the province of Burgos, sells grapes to prestigious wineries and produces around 80,000 bottles in his new, practical winery in Roa.

This 2022, from a warm vintage, has red (plum) and black (blackberry, blueberry) fruit aromas, but it is on the palate that it really shines thanks to its smooth texture and polished tannins, while retaining the powerful fruitiness of the area and the chocolate-like character typical of the vineyards in La Horra. It also offers remarkable persistence in a region where the focus is usually on the mid-palate. Finally, the alcohol is so well integrated that no one would say that the wine has 15% abv.

To a certain extent, the ageing process goes against current trends as Barona relies on new oak. In 2018, he started buying his own wood in France to ensure that it is seasoned for four years to achieve sweet tannins. "I like the micro-oxygenation of new oak," he notes, adding that he does very little racking. “I don't like to move the wines,” he concludes.

Alcohol: 15% abv.
Bottles: 49,998 
Retail price: €38