Bela Heredad Arano Crianza 2021

Bela Heredad Arano is a Ribera del Duero red from Bodega Bela, a young project named for Sofía Arano, great-grandmother of the current owners, whose family connection to the wine trade reaches back to 1879. Ribera del Duero sits on a high plateau in Castilla y León, where vines endure cold nights and hot days. That wide diurnal range slows ripening and preserves acidity while the fruit accumulates sugar and colour, which is why Tempranillo here gives such deep, structured wines. This Crianza spends fifteen months in French oak barrels, where slow oxygen exchange softens the tannins and adds spice, while the wine's natural concentration carries the wood. At 14.5 percent it is full bodied and firmly built. The colour is dense and almost opaque. The nose shows ripe black plum and blackberry wrapped in freshly ground coffee, cocoa and toasted oak. The palate is broad and structured, with firm tannins, dark fruit, a chocolate richness and a long, spiced finish. Serve at 17 degrees with an hour's decant. It calls for roast lamb, grilled beef and aged hard cheese.