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Antonio (standing)

One of the best things about being a wine writer is the opportunity to meet really great people. Wine producers always seem to be so genuinely friendly and nice. Of course, they are sales peole by necessity, yet every single wine person I've met has always been incredibly sincere and passionate about their product.

This past Monday night I had the occasion to meet producer Antonio Garcia Figuero, whose family owns a winery called Garcia Figuero in Ribera del Duero and goes back through several generations. The wines of Garcia Figuero are all 100% Tempranillo, which as you know is Spain's signature grape.

What is frustrating about tempranillo - to students of wine at least - is that it can take on so many personalities. In the "old days" one had better chance of identifying a Tempranillo, especially from Rioja, by its signature "American Oak" barrel aging which resulted in specific aroma. Today producers are experimenting with many different types of oak, and many different styles.

The Tempranillo of Garcia Figuero is smooth, elegant, and their very finest "Noble 2004" has been described (not by me) as akin to the finest Bordeaux. At $130 it is certainly equivalent in price, but I liked this wine for its smooth, elegant richness of fruit and complexity of flavors. It's not just the Tempranillo grape at work here, it's the soil of Ribera del Duero which has quite a bit of minerals, iron in particular. You can taste ripe jam, licorice, all very smooth and balanced and compex and rich.

For this wine, 70 year old grapes are hand harvested, destemmed, and put through gravity-controlled tanks (Antonio is very proud of these new tanks, as they improve the quality of the wine) it is macerated two days prior to fermentation. It is aged 21 months (15 months in American Oak, six months in French oak from the Allier and Troncais forrest). It then spends an additional 15 months aging in bottle before leaving the cellar.

Yet if this wine is too rich for your budget, you can choose a 'Crianza' which has spent twelve months in barrel. I liked this wine a lot ... rich concentrated flavor of spiced plum, vanilla, blackberries ... and a bit of new French oak shinning through. 85% of the grapes used for this wine come from 20-40 year old vines, with the remaining coming from vines older than a half century. After the grapes are hand harvested they are destemmed, go through gravity controlled tanks, and have five to six days of cold soak maceration prior to fermentation. $28.00

I also liked the Reserva (15 months in Barrel, $53.00) which was delicate with firm yet plush red fruit, quite silky and sensuous. Vines used for this wine are all over half a century, and after gravity controlled tanks have two days of masceration prior to fermentation. It is aged 15 months in new barrels (95% American, 5%French) and sees an additional 21 months aging before it leaves the cellar. Affordable for all at $19 is the Roble Four Month, which has a fresh dark berry aroma. Well balanced and delicious yet can not be compared to the rather coddled wines described above. 

Antonio, his siblings, and brother in law J. Felipe Martin Cabezon run the winery now as his father is mostly retired and they feel very positive about the future of the winery. Tasting the wines, I can see why.

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