Protos Gran Reserva 2018

Protos Gran Reserva is a red wine from D.O. Ribera del Duero, made by Bodegas Protos in Peñafiel, the first winery established in the region back in 1927. It is built from Tinta del País, the local Tempranillo, sourced from old vines over sixty years of age on calcareous sandy-loam soils of low fertility near the Duero river. The poor, chalky soils and old, low-yielding vines concentrate the fruit, while the region's Mediterranean climate with marked diurnal range keeps acidity firm at altitude. This is a long-aged style: twenty-four months in American oak followed by three years in bottle before release. The extended American oak ageing lends sweet vanilla, coconut and clove and allows slow oxygen exchange to soften tannin, while the years in bottle develop the tertiary leather, tobacco and dried-fruit notes that mark a Gran Reserva. It shows a garnet-edged colour and a complex nose of ripe red and black fruit, leather, spice and cocoa. The palate is full and elegant, with mature, resolved tannins and a long savoury finish. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees and decant; it suits roasted red meat and game.