La Pesquera: Spain’s pioneering winery

In 1972, when other growers in Spain’s Ribera del Duero region were replacing grapes with sugar beets, Alejandro Fernandez was buying up the best vineyards, said Elin McCoy in Bloomberg.com. His aim was to create a “Spanish wine with more color, freshness, and fruit than the country’s famous oak-aged Riojas.” Today, Fernandez’s Pesquera winery, set on a “high rocky plateau” bordering the Duero River, produces some of the best red wines in Spain.

2007 Tinto Pesquera ($30)

Named after Pesquera’s first wine, this vintage is “lively and silky” with a flavor that is also deep and velvety.

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2003 Pesquera Janus Gran Reserva ($120)

Made only in the “best years,” this wine boasts “hints of cocoa and tobacco.”

1996 Pesquera Reserva Millennium ($500 for a magnum)

This prized bottle is the only Pesquera wine “aged in French oak,” creating rich and concentrated flavor.