2012 Bodegas Gormaz 12 Linajes Tempranillo Reserva Ribera del Duero 750 ml

The 2012 12 Linajes Reserva has to set some kind of record for Spanish-wine value. It was a sensation at our tasting panel: As soon as we poured it for everyone, it derailed the conversation with its unbelievable longevity and quality—traits that typify elite Ribera del Duero.

Perfectly cellared for 10 years, the wine’s tannins are now smoothed to an elegant sheen, the nose is rife with berries and spice, and the palate is a complex marvel of secondary notes, with leather and mint playing off porcini mushroom and dried earth.  

Founded in 1972, Bodegas Gormaz was one of the 12 founding members of the Ribera del Duero appellation—a number referenced in the name of this cuvée.

This wine is made from the estate’s oldest plots of Tempranillo vines, most of which top 80 years of age. The altitude here reaches nearly 3000 feet, and wind gusts are sometimes strong enough to make you lose your balance. It’s a game of survival of the fittest for the vines, which have to endure summer scorchers that reach 100 degrees as well as bone-chilling winters and little rainfall.

The grapes reflect the fierce beauty and intensity of the raw landscape, and they receive the luxury treatment at the winery from Maria Jose García Moreno, one of Spain’s pioneering female winemakers.

The wine sees 24 months in 70% French oak, of which 70% is new, and 30% American oak, seasoning the Tempranillo with generous helpings of spice, wood tannins, and vanilla. After a decade of aging, those notes have melded seamlessly into the grape’s dark, alluring fruit, leaving little doubt that this is one of 2012’s great releases.