Pardas Aspriu Criança 2015

Celler Pardas produces Aspriu only in its strongest vintages, from Cabernet Franc on the 2.69-hectare La Barraca plot in Penedès, planted in 1996 and kept to low yields of around 3,000 kilos per hectare. Low yields concentrate the fruit and intensify flavour and tannin in the skins. The grapes are hand harvested and sorted, then macerated for about a month before alcoholic fermentation in resin-lined cement tanks. Cement is neutral and breathes slightly, holding a steady temperature and shaping texture without adding the flavour of oak. The wine then ages thirteen months in French oak, whose fine grain gives subtle cedar and spice while slow oxygen ingress softens the tannins. Cabernet Franc here shows its herbal, structured side: aromas of blackcurrant, dark cherry, cedar, dried herbs and a graphite minerality. The palate is medium to full and firmly savoury, with fine but substantial tannin and a long, earthy finish backed by good acidity at 14.5 percent. Farming is organic. Serve at 16 to 17 degrees and decant for an hour. It is built for roast lamb, beef and earthy mushroom dishes.