Fifty-Something 2016

The Quinq cuvée from the Valdrinal estate embodies the modern excellence of Ribera del Duero, one of Spain's most prestigious terroirs. Made from carefully selected old Tempranillo (Tinta Fina) vines, this wine is born in the heart of a family vineyard located in the Castilian highlands, at an altitude of over 900 meters. This harsh continental climate, marked by strong temperature variations, favors a slow and precise ripening of the grapes, guaranteeing an exceptional aromatic richness.

The winemaking process at Valdrinal – Quinq is carried out with great respect for the fruit and the terroir. The berries, harvested manually, undergo controlled fermentation followed by 18 months of aging in new French oak barrels , giving the wine complexity, roundness, and aging potential. This meticulous, artisanal approach allows the full depth of the region's emblematic grape variety to be revealed.

Upon tasting, Quinq seduces with its intense ruby color with garnet highlights. The nose expresses powerful aromas of ripe black fruits (plum, blackberry, black cherry), enhanced by elegant notes of licorice, cocoa, blond tobacco and sandalwood. On the palate, the structure is ample and silky, supported by well-melted tannins, a beautiful concentration and a long and persistent finish, marked by freshness and sweet spices.

The history of wine in Spain is so old that no one really knows who brought the first vines to the region. When the Phoenicians arrived some 3,000 years ago and founded the present-day cities of Cádiz and Jerez, viticulture was well established and Spanish wines were widely marketed throughout the Mediterranean and North Africa. You could say that Spain is a wine miracle. After years spent away from the world of fine wines, she is today a major player. Investment and ambition in the vineyards and cellars results in increasingly rich and complex (often very alcoholic) and spicy reds which are increasingly appreciated by international consumers. Proud to have more land devoted to vines than any other country, Spain is only beginning to capitalize on this resource consistently. Spain is an anarchic tangle of regions and sub-regions, just as its landscape is an anarchic tangle of incredibly raw landscapes. A glance at a map reveals the climatic diversity among Spain's many wine regions, from the soggy green vineyards of Galicia on the northern Atlantic coast to the toasty vineyards of southeastern the Mediterranean. Spain's saving grace, in terms of viticulture, is the average altitude of its vineyards, above 600 meters. A large part of Spanish vineyards therefore manage to produce grapes of good color and acidity simply because night temperatures are relatively low and the grapes do not ripen until the end of a sufficiently long growing period. But there is real treasure to be found for those willing to dig and, now that a class of connoisseurs has developed in Spain, all manner of ambitious investors have done their part to change the image of Spanish wine . Today, a new generation of winemakers has quietly begun making spectacular wines and experimenting with grape varieties that would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. Wine remains an important commodity and is an integral part of Spanish culture.