Tasting notes:

Pagos del Rey makes bold statements about making wine a part of culture and an affordable luxury, but tradition, as well as modernity, plays a large part in the company’s ethos. And this wine is an excellent example of the combination. From old vines, over 50 years of age, in Rioja Alta, the yields are low and so the resulting wine balances intense fruit flavour and oak treatment well. Deep cherry-coloured, the wine has Victoria plum and red cherry fruit overlaid with toast and coconut notes from 24 months’ ageing in American oak barrels. The palate is mid-weight, with bracing acidity and grainy tannins accented by cinnamon and nutmeg spices. An excellent choice to match veal in a saffron, tomato and cream sauce.  (Patricia Stefanowicz MW)