Bodegas Arrocal Paraje de Colmenares Ribera Del Duero 2024

Rosa Arroyo and Moisés Calvo built Bodegas Arrocal from the family vineyards they took over in Gumiel de Mercado in 1999, breaking ground on the winery itself in 2003; today their sons Rodrigo and Asier make the wines. Paraje Los Colmenares draws on three parcels in the eastern reaches of the village, Cuesta Rubial, Carraquintana, and El Olivo, planted on steep slopes of shallow clay-limestone soil at 850 to 890 meters, where wild thyme, lavender, and pine crowd the vine rows. The fruit, 100% Tinto Fino, Ribera del Duero's name for Tempranillo, is picked by hand into small 16-kilogram boxes and sorted at the table before fermentation, then aged 12 months in used French oak and a further 12 months in bottle before release. Cherry-toned and clean with a medium-low layer of color, it opens on ripe red fruit and a wild, herbal edge that carries through from the surrounding hillside, underscored by a faint thread of minerality. The palate is fluid and easy, round rather than angular, with a sense of fullness and freshness that runs through to the finish. A Ribera del Duero built for the table, not the cellar.