Luis Cañas Gran Reserva 2019

Luis Cañas is a family winery in Villabuena, in the Rioja Alavesa, producing wine since the early twentieth century. This Gran Reserva blends Tempranillo with a small portion of Graciano, sourced from old low-yielding vines aged between fifty and sixty years. The old vines crop little, concentrating flavour into a small dense harvest, while the cool calcareous-clay sites of the Alavesa hold the acidity that lets the wine age. Grapes are picked into small fifteen-kilo boxes and pass a double selection at the winery, by bunch and by berry, before vinification. After fermentation and malolactic conversion the wine spends twenty-four months in French and American oak barrels, a long oxidative ageing that softens the tannins and develops the tertiary leather, tobacco and dried-fruit character of a classic Gran Reserva, followed by extended time in bottle. It pours a deep ruby with a garnet rim. The nose shows ripe red and dark fruit alongside tobacco, leather, vanilla and an earthy savoury depth. The palate is full but supple, with fine resolved tannins, fresh acidity and a long complex finish. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees and decant ahead. It suits roast lamb and aged cheese.