200 Monges Selección Especial Reserva 2010

200 Monges Selección Especial Reserva is made by Bodegas Vinícola Real in Albelda de Iregua, in the Rioja Alta uplands. It is a single-varietal Tempranillo from the winery's older vineyards, where vines averaging around 50 years of age give very low yields and concentrated fruit. Harvest is done entirely by hand into small 8 kilogram boxes, which keeps the bunches intact and limits oxidation before pressing. As a Reserva from the 2010 vintage, the wine has had long development. It spends 18 months in French oak barrels, where slow oxygen ingress through the wood softens tannins and adds cedar, vanilla and a savoury spice, followed by 20 months in bottle, where reductive ageing knits the components together and builds tertiary complexity. Malolactic fermentation rounds the acidity into a smoother frame. The colour shows ruby moving to garnet at the rim, typical of bottle age. The nose offers ripe cherry and plum alongside leather, tobacco, dried herbs and sweet oak. The palate is medium bodied and elegant, with fine resolved tannin, balanced acidity and a long, earthy finish. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees, decanting briefly. It pairs well with roast lamb and aged Manchego.