Balbas Reserva 2001, Do Ribera Del Duero
Critic Reviews (3)
About 10% cabernet sauvignon is bolstering the structure of this mature, smooth and still quite youthful Spanish red....
New World inspired - big, bold, spicy and modern. It is hard to believe this is over a decade old. Spicy, crowd...
Amazingly fruity and buttery - hard to believe such a youthful wine is 100% from the 2001 vintage. The colour too, is...
Community Reviews (12)
Totally agree with David Lawrason. The wine is gorgeous but it cannot be from 2001. The cork is slightly pink tinged- perhaps it has been in bottle for 6 months and in glass it is purple edged. Who cares? It is wonderful value but I really would like an explanation.
Needs a little air but quite delicious once you give it some time.
This wine was a pleasant surprise at that price. Just needed 15 mins to balance itself. It had a nice medium length finish, with mixture of berries, vanilla, spices, and good tannin. Tiny bit jammy, but in a good way. It starts to peter out 1 hour after opening, and is borderline vinegar 1.5 hr after opening (I left a bit in the glass to try it out). I would buy it again.
This wine was a pleasant surprise at that price. Just needed 15 mins to balance itself. It had a nice medium length finish, with mixture of berries, vanilla, spices, and good tannin. Tiny bit jammy, but in a good way. It starts to peter out 1 hour after opening, and is borderline vinegar 1.5 hr after opening (I left a bit in the glass to try it out). I would buy it again.
At first glance, it's almost impossible to believe this is 12 years old. Purple in the glass with loads of dark fruit and vanilla on the nose. The tannins are quite soft and there's reasonable acidity, which makes this a quite enjoyable and refreshing. The length is quite long as well. All in all, it's a well done wine, though over-oaked for my taste. Was also disappointed of not getting the characteristics of an aged wine. If I hadn't seen the vintage date though, I would have been pretty happy drinking this. Tasted June 2013.
A tad disappointed with this wine, I was expecting a gracefully aged old world dance but this wine doesn’t seem to have aged??? The fruit is still fresh and acidity is still firm. Otherwise a nice bottle of wine.
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Tasted March 2013.
Yes, hard to believe this is a 2001, given its fruity vibrancy and deep purple colour, but there are certainly signs of serious aging in the leather, fig, plum, raspberry, earth, and slightly funky notes that come later; before that, the inviting aroma of creamy brown butter dominates, supported by rich dark fruit like cassis, as well as vanilla; there's a bit of bitterness on the finish, along with youthful tannins that demand further maturing, but once this opens up after at least an hour, there's ample complexity for contemplative enjoyment. Tasted September 2014.
It is hard to believe this is not a 2011 vintage. Very light vanilla on the nose, high in tannin, over oaked. unpleasant finish, hot and overpriced.