Figuero Reserva 2020

Figuero Reserva is made by Viñedos y Bodegas García Figuero in La Horra, in the heart of Ribera del Duero. The estate works a Tempranillo clone from pre-phylloxera vines that reached Spain from France in 1908, propagated from the thousand vines the founders received on their marriage in 1961. The high continental plateau of Burgos gives hot days and cold nights, a wide diurnal range that holds acidity and colour while the fruit ripens fully, which is what gives this wine its depth and grip. Chalky, sandy soils drain well and add a mineral edge. The wine ages 15 months in French and American oak barrels, the slow oxygen exchange softening the firm tannin and fixing the colour, with the American oak lending vanilla and coconut and the French finer spice and cocoa. It pours deep, dense ruby. The nose is ripe plum and black cherry with cocoa, sweet spice and toasted oak. The palate is full and structured, with concentrated black fruit, firm ripe tannin and a long, savoury finish. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees and decant ahead. It is built for roast and grilled red meat.