Here we have another great wine for under €10. It is one I have been enjoying for years and I recently had a bottle and realised I hadn’t written a review of it yet.
This winery has been one of my favourites for a long time, always producing top class wines but most of them are well over the €10 mark (for their reds) but this one, fortunately, falls into the budget at €7.50 and I can assure you it is worth every Euro.
Most of the Protos vineyards are planted on south-facing hillsides, beckoning the rays of sunlight needed for optimal ripening. They range in elevation from those located on plateaus to elevations of up to 900 metres, with some located in valleys at 750 to 800 metres above sea level.
The climate in this region has a great influence on the vineyards, which can be seen clearly in the life cycle of the vines and plays an important role in plant development and grape ripening, giving the Tempranillo variety from this region its very special quality.
It really is a surprisingly balanced wine for a 100% Tempranillo.
Wine data Protos Roble :
GRAPE VARIETY Tempranillo 100 %
VINEYARDS Less than 25 years old.
FEATURES Hand-picking harvest in 20 kg crates. Sorting table. Skin contact maceration and fermentation for 15 days at 24 ºC.
AGEING 6 months in American and French oak barrels and 6 months in bottle.
COLOUR Bright cherry colour with purple rim, bright and clean.
NOSE Very expressive, powerful, complex, fresh fruit, sweet spices, creamy oak, red berry notes.
TASTE Flavourful, fruity, toasty with round tannins and good finish.
SERVING TEMPERATURE 12 - 16 ºC.
Food pairing ideas:
• Meat: oven-baked suckling lamb, fried lamb chops, roast lamb, veal tongue in a sauce, sweetbreads, oxtail, etc.
• Game: quails sautéed or in sauce, garlic rabbit, roast pheasant, hare served with potatoes and rice, venison loin, stewed partridge.
• Cereals and pastas: rice with partridge, chicken or rabbit, spaghetti bolognese, beef lasagne, macaroni with chorizo, tagliatelle bolognese.
• Cold meats: cured ham, wild boar pate, chistorra (spicy sausage), chorizo, foie gras, fuet (catalonian sausage), shoulder of pork, black pudding, morcón (large blood sausage).
• Eggs: in any of their varieties or as an omelette.
• Pulses: haricot beans with chorizo, fabada (asturian bean stew), pinto beans and all kinds of stews.
• Cheeses: the wine matches very well with any semi-aged cheese.
• Soups
• Vegetables
ENJOY!
Where to buy Protos
A little history about Protos
In 1927, the love a group of local vine growers felt for the land achieved the union of their best efforts, creating a winery, now a symbol of the Ribera region. A project that has continuously grown and multiplies year by year, taking its name proudly to the highest international levels. Protos, which comes from the Greek word for "FIRST" is without a doubt one of the great wines from what is now known as 'Ribera del Duero'. The 30s represented its definite settlement at the international level. The 1929 World Exposition in Barcelona gave a particularly strong impulse, awarding Gold Medals to its red wines and establishing it as a benchmark for the region.
The company's rapid growth brought about the problem of lack of space for the first time and the winery began its expansion throughout the region. The construction of a wine-ageing cellar began in the heart of the mountain, literally beneath the Castle of Peñafiel.
The quality and prestige this winery acquired in the eighties led a highly recognised vine-growing area to take on its own name, Ribera del Duero, to identify the D.O. Control Board that watches over the quality of area wines. In 1995, the wine-ageing cellar was enlarged and the winery succeeded in the international winemaking panorama.
The project continues growing: In the town of Anguix (Burgos), Protos has acquired a winery that has the latest cutting-edge technology. It can produce up to three million kilos of grapes, of which 1.5 million kilos go through the sorting table.
It is in Peñafiel, a Valladolid town held together by the Duero River, where this gift of the land is born. Protos has the privilege of having been engendered in the heart of one of the most important fortresses in the area – Peñafiel Castle –. This castle is a landmark for the Castilla y León region since the wine museum is housed in it.
The new winery is an architectural jewel that has already become a symbol of the Ribera del Duero D.O.- and the area's interesting culture and gastronomy have placed Protos at the centre of a new trend known as "Wine-Related Tourism".
Tradition and vanguard were combined in the designing of the new winery where guided visits and special events can also be arranged. Only a few can resist the temptation to discover the Duero's Heart, an incredibly beautiful place.
The new Protos winery facility is located at an interesting historical crossroads: the extension of the Camino de las Eras and the San Pedro sheep drove road, an ancient Roman road. It is on the edge of a low-lying area that, in the past, was partially covered by a small pond fed by waters from the nearby Botijas stream. It is also located quite near the existing winery facilities, connected to them via an underground link, and buried into the Peñafiel Castle hill.
The project was conceived as a contemporary reinterpretation of traditional wine cellar construction in the region. On the one hand, the base of the building is excavated into the land, reminiscent of wine cellar construction methods that have been used since time immemorial in the Peñafiel Castle hillside. With this reference in mind, and for practical reasons that are commonplace to vernacular architecture in relation to 
making the best use of the lower temperatures underground, most of the facilities used in the preparation and ageing of wine are buried underground.
On the other hand, the above-ground structure, technically known as the “light structure”, is a reinterpretation of vault-shaped winery construction methods. This structure is made of parabolic arches of laminated wood. The shape and materials were chosen because they are structurally efficient and appropriate for the production process, as traditional winery construction has shown.
The roof is the most noteworthy visual feature of the outside of the winery. This is the result of the exceptional location of the winery at the foot of the castle. In the project concept, the roof was considered as yet another façade, to be viewed from the privileged position afforded by the castle.
Therefore, it was designed with the five vaulted bays oriented towards the Castle. In the treatment of the roof materials and construction, using large format terracotta pieces, it represents a contemporary reinterpretation of typical vernacular roofs. In effect, seen from the Castle, Peñafiel offers muted red tones that range from orange to brown, typical of traditional tile roofs. This is the colour that is also used for the winery.
Protos allows you to visit its two wineries: the oldest that extends through the interior of the mountain, and the new one that was designed by the architect Richard Rogers. All visits include a tour of the two wineries and a wine tasting at the end of the tour which is highly recommended. Visits must be arranged in advance by calling +34 659 843 463 or by sending an e-mail to enoturismo@bodegasprotos.com.
Visits are 1.5 hours long on average, including a tasting of a Verdejo white wine and a Crianza red wine. Please note that the tours are available upon demand for individuals or groups and visits require a minimum of 8 people.