El Regajal Selección Especial 2024

El Regajal Selección Especial is a red from D.O. Vinos de Madrid, produced by Viñas de El Regajal on an estate close to Aranjuez at the southern edge of the Madrid region. It is a full blend of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Syrah, grown across different plots on organically farmed young vines. The climate is severely continental, swinging from around minus eight degrees in winter to forty one in summer, and that extreme diurnal range at harvest time is the wine's making, the cold nights locking in acidity and aromatic freshness while the hot days ripen the five varieties fully. The poor estate soils keep yields modest and concentrate the fruit. Ageing runs thirteen months in French oak, where slow oxygen exchange softens the tannins of the Cabernet and Petit Verdot and binds the components into a single wine, the barrel adding fine spice rather than overt toast. The colour is deep, saturated ruby. The nose is ripe and layered, with black plum and cherry, cracked pepper from the Syrah, vanilla and dark chocolate over a leafy tobacco note, and the palate is full at fifteen degrees, the firm tannins and bright acidity holding the dense fruit in balance. Serve at 17 to 18 degrees, decanted ahead. It is built for roast meat.