Garcia de Lara La Cueva Colorá Cencibel 2023

Garcia de Lara draws this red from Tempranillo, known locally as Cencibel, grown in Villarrubia de Santiago in the Toledo part of Castilla La Mancha. The family has cultivated vines here for more than a hundred years, on the limestone and clay soils of the high central plateau. The continental climate runs to hot days and sharply cooler nights, and that diurnal range preserves natural acidity and builds colour and tannin in the thick Tempranillo skins. Made in the Crianza style, the wine ages twelve months in French oak barrels and a further ten months in bottle. The barrel time lets oxygen pass slowly through the wood to soften tannins and add vanilla, cedar and a savoury spice, while the bottle ageing rounds the wine and knits its aromatics together before release. It shows a deep cherry red. The nose offers red berries, cherry and plum over tobacco, liquorice and sweet oak. The palate is medium to full bodied, the ripe fruit carried by firm tannins and bright acidity into a long, savoury close. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees with roast and grilled meats.