{"product_id":"emilio-moro-ribera-del-duero-malleolus-2022","title":"Emilio Moro Ribera del Duero Malleolus 2022","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Land\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpain's most celebrated red wine region is not a valley — it is a plateau. The Duero River cuts through it, but the vineyards of Ribera del Duero sit on the high meseta at 750 to 900 meters above sea level, where winters drop below freezing, summers exceed 40°C, and annual rainfall rarely tops 450 millimeters. These extremes define what Ribera del Duero tastes like: concentrated, structured, and dark. The soils around Pesquera de Duero — where Emilio Moro is based — are stony moorland: shallow, calcium carbonate-rich, and rocky both at the surface and deep in the profile. Low yields are the norm. The 2022 season amplified the drought further: cumulative rainfall from January through September reached only 210 millimeters, harvest began August 30th, unusually early, and stretched 74 days as the winery navigated a diverse, heat-stressed crop. The Regulatory Council rated the vintage \"very good.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e100% Tinto Fino, drawn from Emilio Moro's estate vineyards in the high Ribera del Duero, including parcels first planted in the late 1980s. Hand harvested, fermented in stainless steel with approximately 18 days of skin maceration, malolactic fermentation in tank, then aged in French oak barrels — predominantly 500-litre format, which integrates oak more gradually than a standard barrique. What's in the glass is still unmistakably full-throttle: ripe black fruit, cedar, tobacco, clove, with a broad, chewy texture and a long finish with real tannic grip. This is a modern Ribera style that doesn't apologize for its weight. September rains in 2022 modulated the extreme heat and prevented over-concentration, producing fruit that's rich but not jammy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe People\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Moro family has farmed in Pesquera de Duero since the great-grandfather Emilio Moro was born there in 1891. The estate's oldest vineyard, Pago de Valderramiro, was planted in 1924. Bodegas Emilio Moro was formally established in 1987 under the third generation. Malleolus — the name means \"vine cutting\" in Latin, and is what the oldest local vineyards are traditionally called — was first made in 1998 as a deliberate break from Spain's Crianza\/Reserva\/Gran Reserva classification. Rather than age to a category, the family committed to listening to each vintage and giving every wine what it specifically needed. The fourth generation, led by general manager Patricia Sánchez Moro since 2022, now steers operations. The family owns roughly 200 hectares of estate vineyards, none irrigated, and also runs Cepa 21 in Ribera del Duero and a Godello project in El Bierzo.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBuilt for meat. A bone-in ribeye with blue cheese butter, braised short ribs with roasted root vegetables, or lamb chops off a wood-fire grill — Malleolus holds its own against all of it. The tannin structure also works alongside long-aged Manchego or a board of jamón ibérico. The kind of bottle that makes a proper weekend dinner feel like an occasion.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"VinMarket","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49635299983583,"sku":null,"price":55.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/P5280210.jpg?v=1780011291","url":"https:\/\/denverwinemerchant.com\/products\/emilio-moro-ribera-del-duero-malleolus-2022","provider":"Denver Wine Merchant","version":"1.0","type":"link"}