Over the last decade or so, many critics have alluded to a trend in wine where wines are produced to a standard referred to as an “international” style. This points to a homogenization of many red wines that, regardless of country of origin or varietal, taste the same. Winemakers appear to be focusing on producing wines with clean, fruit-forward flavors and finishes that are big, bold and one-dimensional. While the movement toward this style has definitely helped to improve the quality of wines, it apparently has come at the expense of removing a sense of place and time that the soul of a wine can — and should — convey.
So when I had the opportunity to attend a recent tasting of Spanish wines from the region of Ribera del Duero, I was pleasantly surprised by how many of the wines actually tasted “of a place.”
