Briego Ribera Del Duero Crianza 2009

I was shopping at Costco a few weeks ago and found a large display of the 2009 Briego Crianza with the price reduced from $17.59 to $13.99. I was not familiar with the wine but the age, alcohol (14%) and region looked interesting and I purchased one bottle. On my next trips to Costco, the wine was no longer at the sale price.

Ribera Del Duero is one of the great wine regions in the world. It is located in the Northern Plateau of Spain, centered on the Duero River. The word Crianza on the label signifies that it has spent a minimum of 12 months in oak barrels. In fact, this wine spent 14 months in used American and French barrels before bottling.

This is a silky, smooth, full bodied wine with flavors of black and red cherry, raspberry and smoke. The finish is long lasting with subtle oak. I think this is one of the best Spanish wines I have tasted in the past year.

The 2009 Briego Crianza has been in the bottle for a while. It was reviewed by Robert Parker back in February 2013. I am not sure if you can cellar this wine more than a year, so you should just drink it and enjoy. If Costco puts this back on sale, I plan to stock up.

SC Wine Joe rating = 91 points

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