The 2006 Val de los Frailes Vendimia Seleccionada comes from the Pago de Terron Blanco vineyard and sees 12 months in barrel (80% American and 20% French). It has a ripe, rounded, clean, quite seductive bouquet of dark cherries, blueberry jam and just a touch of licorice. It is well-defined and unfurls nicely in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with a sweet, rounded entry. It shows good weight but seems slightly over-extracted, rendering the finish a little “blocky” and needing more delineation. There is also a jarring metallic tincture on the aftertaste. Drink now-2015. Located in the sub-region of Cubillas de Santa Marta, Bodegas Valdelofrailes is part of Grupo Mattarromera run by the Carlos Moro family (see Bodegas Emina in last issue’s Ribera del Duero report). Established in 1999, they presently farm around 78 hectares of vine in Cubillas de Santa Marta and Valoria la Buena that includes some century-old plantings. I visited their facility, a functional rather than aesthetically pleasing winery equipped with modern machinery and approximately 800 American and French oak barrels. Importer: Matarromera USA Inc. www.grupomatarromera.com

The 2005 Vendimia Seleccionada is 100% Tempranillo (as are all of these wines) aged for 12 months in oak. Earthy mineral, mocha, violets, and assorted black fruits inform the nose of this concentrated, full-flavored, surprisingly elegant offering. Well-balanced and lengthy, it is likely to evolve for 1-2 years and will drink well through 2020. It is an excellent value. Bodega Valdelosfrailes is part of Carlos Moro's Matarromera group of wineries. Valdelosfrailes is located in the overlooked, but excellent, DO of Cigales, not far from Ribera del Duero.Importers: Matarromera USA, Hoboken, NJ; Tel. (310) 625-5301; in New York and New Jersey, Carlos Hubner-Arteta, Vinos Libres, New York, NY; Tel. (917) 282-6994

Glorious nose of tobacco and black fruit, chocolatey and herbal. Fully mature, and will attractively gain complexity and length.

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