Bodegas Arzuaga Gran Reserva is a limited production wine (2300 bottles) which spends an eye watering 56 months in new French oak barrels which I’m not sure would still be classified as “new” after 50 months? It is made from small parcels of the best grapes grown on the Arzuaga estate and has 2% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blended into the Tempranillo. It is an intoxicating wine that on paper should be heavily dominated by oak but is a superbly balanced and crafted wine that displays the perfect balance of sweet and savoury oak notes with rich, generous and ripe dark fruit flavours. The finish is long, lingering and memorable. This is a world class wine that oozes class.

Bodegas Arzuaga was founded in the early 1990’s by Florentino Arzuaga when he purchased the La Planta estate, just east of Valladolid in the high-altitude region of Ribera del Duero. The estate itself consists of over 1400 hectares of land, of which, just over 200 are under vine. There is an abundance of olive trees and a bewildering array of wildlife, flora and fauna on the estate along with a superbly modern hotel, spa and restaurant. It’s pretty much the perfect holiday location!

The high-altitude vineyards sit at 950 meters above sea level which results in a unique climate through the growing season of hot days and cool, humid nights. This allows for a slow maturation process which leads to ripe grapes with retained acidity, perfect for making big yet fresh and elegant wines.