Who is ribera

There are nearly 22, hectares under vine. The majority are north- or south-facing on hillsides. Nearly 95 percent of the DO is planted with Tempranillo. Approximately 35 percent of those vines are 25 years old or older, including about hectares of vines that are more than years old.

They tend to produce even yields and smaller fruit, but they give wines with exceptional structure and balance. Ribera del Duero has a Mediterranean climate influenced by the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, but the region also experiences a high degree of continentality, marked by winters that are long and cold, and summers that are hot and dry.

Rainfall is low to moderate and tends to occur in winter and spring. The area experiences sudden temperature changes throughout the year and fluctuations in temperature of up to 50 degrees per day. This diurnal shift slows the ripening process and results in softer, suppler tannins, adding more flavor complexity while making these wines more approachable in youth. Frost, though, is a major threat in Ribera del Duero.

In the eastern part of the region, clay, limestone, and alluvial soils dominate. In the west, moraine, sandstone, and limestone are common. Erosion and lack of water also pose threats. Irrigation is permitted, and is used for young vines and during extreme drought conditions.

In the 12th century, vineyard practices were refined by Benedictine monks, among others, who brought a more sophisticated style of viticulture to the region from Burgundy. He planted his vineyards with Tinto Fino, as well as the Bordeaux varieties Cabernet Sauvignon , Merlot , and Malbec , and went on to create artful wine blends that had significant commercial success. He made wines from grapes grown around the village of Pesquera del Duero.

His wines, brought to the U. Before the region became a DO, most growers sold grapes to co-ops that vinified them and sold the wine in bulk.

In time, a small group of growers applied for DO status, which was granted to Ribera del Duero in The spices, dark fruit and smoky flavors of Ribera enhance anything off the grill, roasted meats, and rich pastas. Ribera del Duero wines can best be compared to Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley thanks to those rich and bold flavors, but tend to be more refined and Old World in style, more balance and less overpowering oak.

The result, wines that can be enjoyed at home on the everyday table filled with rich dishes and staples like charcuterie and cheese. Perfect for fireside chats with the best of friends.

The vineyards of Ribera del Duero stretch intermittently for over 70 miles along the River Duero. Ribera's leading biographer, Dr. Mayer, dates this change from the Immaculate Conception , of , at the Augustinian convent in Salamanca. It is not a good picture, the Virgin Mary being singularly dwarfed by the wide margins crowded with tumbling cherubs, and the baroque swirl of Her robe is overcomplicated, but at least we have a reasonable distribution of light and shade and an approach to pictorial unity.

It is interesting to compare this Assumption with the later more successfully operatic and sentimental versions by the Bartolome Esteban Murillo and his contemporaries. Perhaps the greatest picture of this mature sort is the Lamentation for Christ , at S. It is large in feeling, poignant without sentimentality, and the faces are near enough to the model to keep the effect idiomatic and Neapolitan, without waiver of nobility.

The portrait art and character studies of this period are more restrained and more effective than their predecessors of some twenty years earlier. The magnificent bust-portrait of a Musician, formerly in the Strogonoff Collection, now at Toledo, would live comfortably in any company.

The St. Mary of Egypt , at Montpellier, has the utmost intensity of ascetic character, and the relation of the gaunt figure to the craggy background is very handsome.

But Ribera's touch and taste are still uncertain. The very famous St. Agnes , at Dresden, is painfully sentimental. There is much pleasure-giving quality in the sturdy and lucid prose of one of his latest pictures, the Adoration of the Shepherds , Louvre, Paris. In it we have an art of plain statement, without overtones of any sort, and it shows the normal mellowing of his harsh talent in old age. To the end Ribera interpreted his task rather narrowly, as emphatic construction of form and assertion of facial expression.

He seems to lack vision of the picture as a whole. Velazquez visited him in and doubtless was polite and complimentary to his famous senior. One would like to know what Velazquez really thought about Ribera's work. Ribera died in one of the greatest of Spanish Old Masters and full of honours, leaving his stamp upon his Neapolitan contemporaries in particular and on seventeenth century Spanish painting in general.

About his memory grew up a legend of arrogance and violence. He was accused of forming a selfish protectionist clique, known as the "Cabal of Naples", in order to monopolize Neapolitan art commissions, using threats of violence to scare off competitors. Look no further. Contact Us. Send us a message Do you have a project to discuss or just want to say hi, please send us a message. Send Message. We use cookies to make your online experience awesome. By using our website, you consent to our use of cookies.