Convento San Francisco 2020

Convento San Francisco is a Ribera del Duero red made by the winery of the same name in Peñafiel, Valladolid, built on the remains of an eighth century convent. It is 100 percent Tinto Fino, the local name for Tempranillo, drawn from vines between 25 and 100 years old planted at 760 to 970 metres above sea level. The high altitude drives a wide diurnal swing, cool nights preserving acidity and colour while warm days ripen the fruit, and the sandy clay and chalk soils give drainage that keeps yields low and concentration high. Old vines deepen that concentration further. Hand harvested fruit is fermented and then aged 12 months in French and American oak, where slow oxygen exchange softens the tannins and adds vanilla, sweet spice and a cocoa edge. The wine is deep ruby, with a nose of ripe plum, dark cherry and tobacco over the oak. The palate is full and firm, the chalk soils lending freshness that balances the 14.5 percent alcohol, closing on leather and dark chocolate. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees, and decant an hour ahead. Good with roast lamb and aged Manchego.