Briego Tiempo Crianza 2021

Briego Tiempo Crianza is a varietal Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero in Castilla y León, produced by Bodegas Briego from their own La Solana vineyards. Ribera del Duero is defined by altitude and continentality, the vineyards sitting high on the Castilian plateau where the wide gap between hot days and very cold nights ripens the thick skinned Tinto Fino while holding on to acidity and deep colour. The soils are a mix of limestone, clay and sand, poor and well drained, keeping yields naturally low. The wine is aged fourteen months in American and French oak, with the American wood pushing a sweeter register of vanilla and coconut and the French barrels adding finer spice and tannin, slow oxygen exchange softening the phenolics throughout. It then rests a further fourteen months in bottle before release, a Crianza ageing that lets the oak knit into the fruit and the tannins settle. The colour is deep cherry red with ruby at the rim. The nose offers black cherry and plum over vanilla, tobacco and a touch of dark chocolate, and the palate is structured and full, with ripe tannins and a savoury, lightly leathery finish. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees. It calls for roast lamb and grilled red meat.