Venta la Ossa Syrah 2019

Venta la Ossa Syrah is a varietal red from Bodegas Mano a Mano in Ciudad Real, in the high plains of Castilla La Mancha. The fruit comes from the estate vineyard Finca La Solana and the wine is bottled under the regional VT Castilla designation. This is one of Spain's hottest and driest growing zones, but altitude is the saving grace, the elevated plateau bringing sharply cold nights that slow the final ripening of Syrah and preserve the acidity and peppery aromatics the grape can lose in heat. The poor limestone soils restrict vigour and concentrate the berries. Ageing runs twelve months in a combination of French and American oak, the French barrels lending fine spice and structure through slow oxygen exchange while the American wood adds a rounder note of vanilla and coconut. The colour is deep and saturated. The nose is ripe and intense, leading with black plum and cherry, cracked black pepper and a curl of smoke, with dark chocolate and liquorice behind, and the palate is full and warming at fourteen degrees of alcohol, the supple tannins and ripe fruit balanced by that altitude freshness. Serve at 17 to 18 degrees. It is built for the grill.