Altún Vistalegre 2022

Altún makes Vistalegre in D.O.Ca. Rioja from Tempranillo, the region's signature grape, farmed by Iker and Alberto Martínez Pangua on a challenging plot their grandfather planted above the Ebro in 1929. The site's poorer, complex soils and the continental climate, with warm days and cold nights, ripen Tempranillo slowly while holding its acidity and the fine tannins that let Rioja age. The wine spends 14 months in oak barrels, the traditional Rioja step in which slow oxygen exchange softens the tannins and adds the vanilla, sweet spice and gentle tobacco that frame the fruit. It pours a brilliant ruby with violet glints. The nose shows ripe cherry and strawberry over vanilla, a touch of liquorice and the savoury, earthy tobacco that marks oak-aged Rioja. The palate is medium to full, the fruit and oak well integrated, the tannins supple and the finish long and savoury rather than heavy. This is the classic, structured Rioja register, built for the table as much as the cellar. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees, decanted if young, with roast lamb, grilled beef or aged cheese.