Hacienda del Arte Reserva Ribera del Duero 2016

With a dark, broad and balanced palate of red fruit and earth, Hacienda del Arte Reserva is an authentic expression of Ribera del Duero—the latest Spanish region to be on all the top critics’ lips and being stockpiled in all the collectors' cellars.

Just southwest of Rioja, Ribera del Duero has, in recent years, become seen as one of the country’s top red wine regions, admired increasingly for its full-bodied, age-worthy Tempranillos that are, as Decanter declares, “in line with great wines all over the world.”

Vineyards here stretch up and across a high plateau, some 2,800 feet above sea level, where the area’s unforgiving heat is cut by cool nighttime temps. This extends the grapes’ ripening well into fall and ensures they are harvested at maximum flavor.

The resulting wines are deeply colored, dense and more concentrated than most Riojas. But in the right hands and with adequate aging, they are eminently drinkable and humming with sweet-savory fruit. So, when we got a call from our old friend Javier Murúa (shown below), the third-generation face of Bodegas Muriel, who recently led his family’s foray into Ribera, our ears perked up.

He’d just purchased a winery a mere 14 miles from Vega Sicilia—widely considered to be the area’s best producer, who’s flagship wine is sold for up to $800 a bottle—and discovered a cellar full of treasures. This nine-year-old Reservas was one of his discoveries, and guess which old friends he offered it to…

A real rarity at an incredible friends-only price, it delivers a weight of wild and dried strawberries framed by earthy notes, cocoa nib and pliable tannins. This is one you won’t want to miss.

Extremely limited. High sell out risk.