Alejandro Fernandez
Alejandro Fernandez is known as “El Rey de Tempranillo”, Spanish for the King of Tempranillo. His winery, Pesquera, put the Spanish region of Ribera del Duero on the world wine map. Alejandro was a tireless champion of the Tempranillo grape and understood as well as anyone how to grow it and how to vinify it. He passed on May 22, 2021 at the age of 88. He was a true icon in the wine world, a man of tireless energy and a great lover of people. To say he was charismatic would be a gross understatement. If he was in the room, you knew it, and you would very likely try to make your way over to where he was.
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The #WorldWineTravel group is continuing its virtual exploration of Spain. This month the focus is on Castilla y León including Ribera del Duero, Rueda, and Toro. AdVINEtures is co-hosting this month’s conversation with Lynn from Savor the Harvest on Twitter this Saturday March 27th. We’d love to have you join the conversation; the invitation with all the details can be found here.
Our article is a primer on Ribera del Duero, a region we were lucky enough to visit a few years ago. To read the other articles related to this month’s topic by others in the group, please refer to the links at the end .
Tempranillo grapes at Abadia Retuerte.
Ribera del Duero is, along with nearby Rioja and Priorat, one of the most important wine producing regions in Spain. In 2012 the highly respected Wine Enthusiast Magazine awarded Ribera del Duero its ‘Wine Region of the Year’ citing as reasons Ribera’s “combination of top-quality wines, beautiful vistas and a proactive approach to tourism and customer satisfaction”. While grapes have been grown and wines have been produced here for hundreds of years, it is only relatively recently that this wine region has gained the respect of the wine establishment and recognition of that fact that its top wines have earned a standing alongside the world’s great wines.
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The entrance to Pesquara Winery
Pesquera is the jewel in the crown of Alejandro Fernandez’ collection of wineries in Ribera del Duero, the wine region of Northern Spain that is attracting a lot of attention. Fernandez, and his winery, are a big part of how that attention came to the region. Pesquera is one of the most prestigious wineries in Ribera and Alejandro Fernandez is its most famous resident, rightfully known as the “King of Tempranillo”, Spain’s greatest grape variety.
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