Tim Atkin MW ready to reveal Ribera del Duero Selection

On Wednesday, Tim Atkin MW will reveal his top Ribera del Duero picks. The event, however, includes much more than a simple ranking.

On Wednesday, Tim Atkin MW will reveal his top Ribera del Duero picks. The event, however, includes much more than a simple ranking.

As we enter awards season – the battles for Grammys and Oscars hotting up – any film buff will tell you there’s a special thrill to rankings and awards. The wine industry may not have such a set calendar, but it certainly can relish the chance to see the runners and riders in the current wine trade.

The launch of the Tim Atkin MW Ribera del Duero Selection 2024 offers one such opportunity to see if a personal favourite has triumphed. This week, he will reveal his report, including his tantalising Top 100. Yet the launch, the centrepieces of which are events in London on Wednesday 20 November, is about far more than which producers made the cut.

Atkin’s report addresses both the needs of the wine trade and of general consumers, with each offered a separate opportunity to explore the Spanish region. Though we cannot spoil the results and findings, db took a look at what Wednesday’s events might offer.

Tastings celebrate an esteemed region

The tastings at the launch events comprise three distinct sections, each offering a slightly different perspective on the region and its wines.

The Tim Atkin Ribera del Duero Top 100 offers a selection based on his tasting of nearly 600 of the region’s wines. Unsurprisingly, red wines dominate the tastings but there have also been white and rosé wines in competition for a spot in that Top 100. The opportunity to taste these wines is an impressive crash course for anyone interested in the wines of the Ribera del Duero.

Another section highlights a key consideration for consumers, and therefore the trade professionals that supply them. Ribera del Duero on a budget will survey some of the very best examples that are priced below €16. Although the region is often associated with iconic, and expensive, fine wines, this section will prove that it also offers options for the average drinker.

Perhaps most enticingly for the buyers attending, a new section of the tasting will showcase Unrepresented Producers to Watch. These wineries offer bottles as yet unseen in the UK market, and therefore a new opportunity for buyers to meet consumer interest.

Meeting consumer and trade interest 

During the daytime tasting, catering exclusively to the wine trade, there will also be a 45 minute briefing on the latest news, trends and vintage reports directly from the region. Atkin will offer his insights alongside Pablo Baquera, representing the Consejo Regulador de la Denominación de Origen Ribera del Duero.

Meanwhile, consumers will have the opportunity to taste the wines at a dedicated event in the evening. Following the success of the consumer programme last year, it allows wine enthusiasts to explore the famed region in much greater detail than even the capital’s top wine lists could likely muster.

With Ribera del Duero having helped put Spanish fine wines on the map – several of them still trading at impressive prices – the tastings and briefing will allow an opportunity to get a 360o view on the region.

Showing both the bold but balanced archetype, loaded with dark fruit, spice and smoke, and the younger, fresher, fruit-forward face of the appellation, it promises to be a key date in the calendar for anyone with an interest in Spanish wines.

Wine trade professionals can sign up for their session, running between 12pm and 5pm at London’s Carlton House Terrace, on this link.

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