Pago de los Capellanes Finca El Picón 2021

Pago de los Capellanes is a family winery at Pedrosa de Duero, in the Burgos heart of Ribera del Duero, and Finca El Picón is its single-vineyard Tempranillo. The plateau here sits high above the Duero on chalky clay and gravel, where cold nights and warm days build colour and tannin in the thick-skinned Tinto Fino while holding the acidity that keeps the wine fresh. Old vines crop low, concentrating the fruit. After fermentation the wine spends 26 months in French oak, a long élevage that softens the firm tannins through slow oxygen exchange across the staves and adds cedar, vanilla and a fine grain to the structure. The colour is dense ruby. The nose leads with ripe black plum and cherry over liquorice, sweet spice and tobacco, with the oak well folded into the fruit. The palate is full and firm, the tannins ripe but gripping, carrying dark fruit, cocoa and a savoury, earthy depth into a long finish. Serve at 17 to 18 degrees and decant an hour ahead. It suits roast lamb, grilled beef and aged Manchego.