La Fleur VivaltuS 2016

Fresh blueberries, flowers, white pepper, grapefruit and a hint of wet stone. Stemmy undertone. Soft-spoken and elegant on the palate with a medium body and firm, fine-grained tannins. Fluid, long and expressive. Drink now or hold.

The 2016 La Fleur Vivaltus is a 100% Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero. Garnet-red in color. The subtle nose displays sour cherry, wild herb and candied nuances. The dry and ethereal palate shows fine, polished tannins and a calibrated acidity, leading to a nuanced, alluring finish. The 2016 is a gently extractive Ribera del Duero red made in a cool year.

VivaltuS came on the Place de Bordeaux in September 2022, and is joined here by the 2nd wine from the same 2016 vintage. I suggest giving it a few hours in a carafe, as there is plenty of structure (the vines head up to 90 years old) but with a bit of opening up there is no need to wait any longer to begin drinking. Clear fennel, tobacco and smoked cedar adds depth to the blackberry and loganberry fruits. Jean-Claude and Jeff Berrouet consultants, with winemaker Montxo Martinez and owners Marcos and Carlos Yllera.

I tasted the bottled version of the 2016 La Fleur de Vivaltus (formerly Petit Vivaltus), which showed pretty much like the sample I tasted with Jean-Claude Berrouet and his son Jeff in Madrid on a warm summer Monday morning in 2018. It's mostly Tempranillo with some Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and has 13.9% alcohol. It fermented with neutral yeasts followed by an élevage that lasted 12 months in 70% used barrels, 20% new ones and 10% in concrete eggs. This shows very good freshness and elegance, a style I have also seen in some of the Yllera wines from this vintage (Jesús Yllera and Yllera Dominus), floral, perfumed and elegant, with a vibrant palate with very good freshness and clean, focused flavors. 50,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2018.