Gran Elías Mora 2015

Gran Elias Mora is a varietal Tinta de Toro from Bodegas Elias Mora in San Roman de Hornija, DO Toro. The winery was founded in 2000 by Victoria Benavides and Victoria Pariente, and is today run by Benavides, with vineyards set between the Duero and the Hornija. Tinta de Toro is the local Tempranillo, thick skinned and deeply coloured, grown here on poor soils under a harsh continental climate of hot dry summers and cold nights that gives the grape its concentration and dark, powerful fruit. This is the estate's senior bottling, aged seventeen months in French oak, a long maturation during which gentle oxygen exchange through the staves softens the firm tannins and builds tertiary spice, cedar and savoury complexity. With a decade of bottle age, the 2015 has developed from primary fruit toward leather and tobacco. It shows dark plum and cherry over dark chocolate, tobacco, leather and liquorice, with oak spice behind. The palate is full and structured at 14.5 percent, with ripe, resolving tannins and a long savoury finish. Serve at 17 to 18 degrees and decant ahead. A wine for roast and braised red meat.