Jean Leon Vinya La Scala 2017

Jean Leon Vinya La Scala is a Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Reserva from D.O. Penedès in Catalonia, made by the winery Jean Leon and named after the Beverly Hills restaurant its founder ran during Hollywood's golden age. The Cabernet is grown in Penedès, where a Mediterranean climate is moderated by cooling sea breezes and a degree of altitude, lengthening ripening so the fruit keeps acidity and firm but ripe tannin. The wine is farmed organically and the fruit is fermented on its skins to extract colour and phenolics, then aged 24 months in French oak. That long barrel ageing softens the tannins through slow oxygen exchange and layers in cedar, vanilla and sweet spice over the fruit. It is deep ruby with a garnet edge, the nose led by blackcurrant, plum and dried cherry, with cocoa, tobacco leaf and leather from bottle age. The palate is structured and savoury, the tannins now fine grained, closing long on cedar and dark fruit. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees and decant an hour ahead. It suits roast beef, rack of lamb and aged hard cheeses.