Matallana 2020 Ribera del Duero, Telmo Rodríguez

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
96/100 punten
There is a change in the 2020 Matallana, as they have included Jean-Guillaume Prats (ex-Cos d'Estournel, ex-Lafite...) in the Ribera del Duero project, and the wine is going to be sold for the first time with this vintage through the négociant system of La Place de Bordeaux. The grapes from the five villages (mentioned but then crossed out on the label) were picked between the sixth and 18th of October and fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel and oak vats. The wine matured in French oak barrels for 14 months. This is a little riper than the 2019 I tasted next to it, despite both being 14.5% alcohol (at least on the label). It follows the path of seriousness and austerity of the last few vintages and has a very calcareous mouthfeel with chalky tannins that lift up the finish. 19,624 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2022.

Jane Anson (Inside Bordeaux)
96/100 punten
First time on the Place, from Vinedos de Matallana, care of the iconic winemaking partnership between Telmo Rodriguez and Pablo Eguzkiza, produced with fruit from plots across Burgos. The pair's signature mix of intensity and concentration playing against delicacy and reserved power is fully on display, a combination that should be impossible to achieve in the heat of Ribera del Duero. It's earthy, in the sense that it feels hewn from rocks that give a feeling of slate, granite, steely tannic hold, fine but intense, all of which melts into fragrant gunsmoke, oyster shell, lemon rind, raspberry, pomegranate and red cherry fruits. The flavours are toasted and yet cooling, a wine of contrasts and texture, and utterly compelling. Powerful yet the barest lightness of being. Begs you to find out more. Lucky us that these wines are going through the Place, bringing them to wider attention.

Decanter
95/100 punten
A brand new wine to the Place de Bordeaux this year and the first wine from Ribera del Duero via a collaboration between Telmo Rodriguez and Pablo Eguzkia (also of Yjar on the Place). A field blend of massal-selection grapes - Tinto Fino, Navarro, Valenciano, Albillo 'and others' are chosen from 11 vineyards across five villages with different soils and landscapes totalling 21.5 hectares. This is softly floral on the nose with bright red berry notes. Taught and direct, this doesn't deviate too much from the centre of the palate - the spiced, tobacco-laced black fruit and clear mineral wet stone, graphite and pencil lead all in one line from start to finish, tangy and a little constricted. Feels well worked no doubt, smooth and defined, just not so expansive and wide at this point. Coiled and knitted with tons of liquorice and savouriness on the finish. A real balancing act of complexity and flavour layering with underlying power and promise of great things to come. Ageing 14 months in French oak barrels. Interestingly, the label features a series of redacted, blacked-out lines covering vineyard names as regulations prevent the naming of such.

Colin Hay (The Drinks Business)
95/100 punten
This could easily become something of a cult wine. A new release on la place – the first from Ribera Del Duero and unlikely to be the last – from the extremely talented Telmo Rodriguez (here working with Pablo Eguzkiza). Lovely grippy chalky tannins. Dried raisins. Figs. Dark berry fruit too and a little hint of raspberry puree. This will need time for the tannins to soften, but it has impressive aging potential.