Viña Pedrosa Gran Reserva 2018

Viña Pedrosa Gran Reserva is a Tinta del País from D.O. Ribera del Duero, made by Bodegas Hermanos Pérez Pascuas, the family founded in 1980 by the three Pérez Pascuas brothers, who farm over 150 hectares of vines around Pedrosa de Duero in Burgos. Ribera del Duero lies on a high plateau near 800 metres, where the sharp swing between hot days and cold nights ripens dark fruit and tannin while holding the acidity that lets a Gran Reserva age. The local Tempranillo clone, Tinta del País, gives thick skins and deep colour. The wine spends twenty-four months in French and American oak barrels, the American wood adding coconut and sweet spice and the French wood adding firmer structure, with the long, slow oxygen exchange softening the tannins and developing tertiary, savoury complexity. The colour is deep ruby with a garnet rim. The nose is blackberry and plum over leather, vanilla, tobacco and earth. The palate is full and mature, with fine-grained tannins, fresh acidity and a long finish. Serve at 17 to 18 degrees, decanted an hour ahead, with roast lamb or grilled red meat.