Ego Bodegas Infinito Monastrell 2020

Infinito is made by Ego Bodegas in Jumilla, in Murcia. The estate works twenty-five hectares of its own vineyards, most planted with the local Monastrell, ungrafted and averaging fifty years of age. Jumilla is one of Spain's hottest, driest growing areas, where deep, poor soils and old, ungrafted bush vines keep yields very low and the fruit concentrated. The wide gap between scorching days and cooler nights helps preserve some acidity and aromatic freshness in a wine that reaches a full 15 per cent. Monastrell ripens late and gives deep colour, firm tannin and dark, spiced fruit. Ageing runs to eighteen months in French and American oak, where slow oxygen exchange softens the robust tannins and the two woods add cedar, vanilla and sweet spice. The colour is deep, almost opaque purple. The nose shows ripe black plum, blackberry and pepper over dark chocolate, liquorice and smoky oak. The palate is full and warming, with ripe, dense tannin, generous fruit and a long, spiced finish. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees, decanting ahead. It calls for grilled red meat, slow-cooked lamb and richly spiced dishes.