Ausàs Ribera del Duero Interpretación 2018

Interpretación is the Ribera del Duero red of Xavier Ausàs, for many years the technical director of Vega Sicilia.

Ausas worked at Vega Sicilia and its neighbour Alion for 25 years, seventeen of them as technical director, before leaving in 2015 to set up a family domaine of Burgundian scale; Interpretacion followed the next year. The building blocks are a number of old-vine, high-grown parcels of Tinto Fino, the local strain of Tempranillo, concentrated around Ribera's central belt near Quintanilla de Onesimo. Where much of the region reaches for new barrels, Ausas is notable for restraint in his use of oak. The grapes are given a cold soak and fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel and concrete vats, then aged for 14 months in French oak of which only 30% is new, half in 225-litre casks and half in 500-litre demi-muid. Each parcel is vinified separately and the blend is not assembled until shortly before bottling, which is done unfiltered.

Give it several years in the cellar, or decant it an hour ahead. Serve at 16-18°C with roast lamb, grilled ribeye or a hard sheep's cheese.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.