“You can’t go wrong with this one, son.” - My Dad, 96 points

In case you didn’t clock the vintage, this is a wine with a decade under its belt, but it hasn’t been sitting in our cellar gathering dust. We’ve only just shipped it from the bodega, because they don’t release it until it’s in its perfect ‘sweet spot’ for drinking and boy is it just that! I took a bottle to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner and my dad took one sip and ‘cornered’ the bottle in a politely proprietorial way. “You can’t go wrong with this one, son” he said, pouring himself another glass and setting the bottle down beside him. For those of you who haven’t met my dad, that equates to a score of 96 points.

Never mind my dad, what I love about this wine is its sense of calm composure. Having spent 2 years maturing in oak barrels and a further 7 years in bottle, time has smoothed its wrinkled front, and now, instead of something rough around the edges, it pours soft and mellow, a hint of brick to its colour, with the texture of an unassuming gentleman’s claret, yet with the depth conferred by a warmer climate, as this comes from Central Spain. The flavours say damson and cassis, but smudged a little into indistinctness, by time. A hint of forest floor, the mulch of autumn, tobacco and orange peel. You will find your own. Drink it with roast beef, but be prepared to share. 13.5% alc. Drink now-2025.

NB Some of the corks can be a little dry and crumbly. Age isn’t kind to corks or people. Ideally, use a 'butler's thief' corkscrew or, if you are using a regular corkscrew, insert it as far as possible and pull it out gently.

Press review:

JancisRobinson.com: “The tractable intensity and sepia-edged sweetness of this 10-year-old wine draws you in with a slow, silk lasso. Tempranillo to its toes, it's strawberries and leather, tobacco and preserved cherry, black tea lightly steeped, dried flowers, a coffee bean, a touch of mace. Beautiful tissue-fine flavours layered leaf by leaf and then pressed into time and transparent tannins so that they infuse, one into the other. What a rare treat to be able to enjoy a quiet little beauty like this at the peak of its maturity. It seems to be crazy underpriced to me. I'd snap this up in a heartbeat. VGV (TC). Drink now-2026.” 17 points

Customer comments:

“Had the Tempranillo last night – lovely.” - Mr N.B.