Aptus
"Wine intended to consume young... intense, very fruity, fresh and unctuous in the mouth. Wine with a lot of life." —
Migel Angel Penalba, winemaker
Appellation
Ribera del Duero D.O.
Grape(s)
95% Tempranillo, 5% Garnacha and Albillo Mayor (White)
Altitude/Soil
800 meters / sand and gravel with clay at lower elevations
Farming Methods
Certified organic methods; biodynamic farming (not certified)
Harvest
hand harvested on Sept 30 and Oct 1 in relation to the lunar calendar and with respect to biodynamic "fruit" day
Production
3-day cold maceration, fermentation with native microbes for 8 additional days with skins, malolactic conversion in barrel
Aging
Aged between 8-11 months in used, 80% French and 20% American oak barrels.
Suggested Retail Price
$20
Aptus
2017
Aptus
2018
90 (WE) 90 (VM) 87 (VfC)
| 90 |
Wine Enthusiast |
Familiar blackberry and black cherry aromas include touches of spice and herbal hints. This feels flush, pulpy and generally well balanced. Black plum and blackberry flavors finish juicy but with some weight.
MICHAEL SCHACHNER – February/March 2021 |
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| 90 |
Vinous Media |
Full ruby-red. Primary cherry and dark berry qualities on the perfumed nose, which opens up to show hints of violet and vanilla. Round and supple on the palate, offering sappy red and dark fruit flavors and a touch of mocha. Finishes with solid punch, a dusting of tannins and lingering sweetness. 80% French and 20% American oak. 2022 – 2028
Josh Raynolds - February 2021 |
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| 87 |
View from the Cellar |
The 2018 Aptus Tinto from Bodegas Peñalba Herraiz is composed of a blend of ninety five percent Tempranillo and the other five percent a mix of Garnacha and Monastrell, with the vineyards farmed organically. In the torrid European summer of 2018, the Aptus has come in riper than in any previous vintage I have tasted of the wine, as this is a full fifteen percent octane. The wine offers up a nose of backed red and black cherries, a bit of apricot, chocolate, a bit of coffee grounds, soil and a discreet foundation of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full bodied and reasonably balanced for its octane, with a good core of fruit, moderate tannins and just a touch of backend heat on the long finish. This is a strong effort in a very challenging growing season, but it is not at the same level as previous vintages, from more classically inclined summers. 2020-2025.
Issue # 85 - January/February 2020 |
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Aptus
2019
92 (WRO)
| 92 |
Wine Review Online |
This wine is not about fireworks, but rather about purity of fruit, which it achieves at an extremely high level. I’ve written before (many times, but I’m not done) that young, modestly-oaked Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero is among the world’s most delicious and versatile wines, in addition to being the most transparent of all Spain’s renditions of its premier red variety—and a great value on top on all of that. This is an object lesson in everything you just read, and I encourage you to put my claims to the test by tasting this, with the promise that if you don’t like it (and can pass a lie detector test to that effect), I’ll come mow your lawn for the rest of the summer. Medium-bodied but with lots of fresh, dark-cherry fruit aromas and flavors, this is highly expressive, but fruit-driven in its expressiveness, with only wispy touches of spice and oak derived from the 8 months that this spent in barrique (or barrica, in Spanish). There is essentially no oak tannin to make the finish astringent, and just enough ripe, fine-grained grape tannin to offer grip in the finish and keeping this from seeming “grapey” or unstructured. This is undeniably delicious. I’d suggest you not even bother trying to fool a lie detector, but go for it if you wish; my mower is ready.
Michael Franz – August 24, 2021 |
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Aptus
2020
92 (WRO) 91 (WE) 90 (OB) 90 (VfC)
| 92 |
Wine Review Online |
Biodynamically grown and aged for just 9 months in used barriques, this is a wine that’s evidently intended to display pure primary fruit — which it does, and brilliantly. To emphasize “pure primary fruit” as I have done here runs the risk of suggesting that the wine is simple (which it is not) or unstructured (which it is not). On the contrary, the wine is impressively complex despite its youthfulness, but the complexities are nuances in the fruit as grown in the vineyard rather than derived from cellar treatments. Moreover, the wine has very good acidity and tannic structure, but these components are so well integrated with the fruit’s character that they don’t come across as distinct elements unless one is tasting critically and trying to focus on them. In sum, this is utterly delicious young wine that should be credited for exactly those attributes — rather than being regarded as just “good” because it isn’t overly pushy or in need of a decade of cellaring.
Michael Franz; Nov 21, 2023 |
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| 91 |
Wine Enthusiast |
Dark violet in the glass, this wine offers a nose of black currant and anisette. Flavors of black cherry and blackberry with notes of dark chocolate, coffee bean, clove and eucalyptus are framed by plush tannins that last into an enduring finish. Best Buy.
Mike DeSimone - Issue May 2023 |
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| 90 |
OwenBargreen.com |
2020 Aptus Ribera Del Duero- The 2020 Aptus is a nicely concentrated effort, with forward black fruit and chocolate flavors that a mingle well with dusty soil accents on the palate. Enjoy now. Drink 2023-2029-
Owen Bargreen - October, 2023 |
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| 90 |
View from the Cellar |
The 2020 Aptus Tinto from Bodegas Peñalba Herraiz is produced from a cépages of ninety-five percent Tempranillo and the other five percent a mix of Garnacha. The 2020 vintage comes in at 14.5 percent octane this year and delivers a lovely, complex nose of red and black cherries, dark chocolate, cigar wrapper, a good base of soil and a nice framing of cedary new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, ripe and full-bodied, with a fine core of fruit, firm, buried tannins, good focus and a long, well-balanced and gently warm finish. This is a good bottle in the making, which I would love to have seen just a touch lower in alcohol, but that is the nature of global warming in Ribera del Duero these days. 2028-2055.
John Gilman – Issue #98 March/April 2022 |
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Aptus
2021
88 (VfC)
| 88 |
View from the Cellar |
The 2021 Aptus Tinto from Bodegas Peñalba Herraiz is made from the same blend of ninety-five percent Tempranillo and the balance a mix of Garnacha and Albillo, with the wine again tipping the scales at fifteen percent in this vintage. It was raised in used barrels for eight to eleven months prior to bottling, with the same breakdown as the 2022 in terms of origin of the oak. The bouquet is developing very nicely and is starting to show some secondary complexity in its mix of plums, sweet dark berries, cigar wrapper, dark soil tones, coffee bean, woodsmoke and cedar. On the palate the wine is deep, nascently complex and full-bodied, with fine depth at the core, ripe tannins, fine focus and a long, poised and gently warm finish. The balance here is not quite as elegant as in the 2022 vintage, so there is just a hint of backend alcohol showing, though it is certainly quite moderate. This wine needs time in the cellar to let its tannins relax a bit more. It is a good wine, but I have a very slight preference for the 2022 version, which seems to carry its octane just a bit more seamlessly. 2034-2065.
John Gilman; Issue 109, January – February 2024 |
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Aptus
2022
89 (VfC)
| 89 |
View from the Cellar |
The 2022 Aptus Tinto from Bodegas Peñalba Herraiz is crafted from a cépages of ninety- five percent Tempranillo and the other five percent a mix of Garnacha and Albillo Mayor, with all of the vineyards farmed by certified organic methods. The wine was aged for just under a year in entirely used oak casks, with the eighty percent of the older barrels being French oak and the balance American wood. The 2022 vintage of Aptus is a full fifteen percent octane this year and offers up scents of ripe black cherries and black plums, dark chocolate, cigar wrapper, lovely spice tones and a nicely discreet framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nicely plush at the core, with ripe, buried tannins, good focus and grip, very good balance for its octane level and a long, chewy and promising finish. I am most impressed that this wine shows no backend heat at a full fifteen percent. It needs plenty of bottle age to soften up its tannins, but will be a good drink with sufficient cellaring. 2034-2065.
John Gilman; Issue 109, January – February 2024 |
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