Spanish Wine: El Vinculo Crianza

I was lucky enough to join a Spanish Wine Tasting with Fine Wines Direct. We explored a variety of what Spain has to offer, from the famous Rioja region through to the stonkingly hot, desert plains of La Mancha (it was raining and cold here when I did the tasting…jealous much). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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Part of the tasting included this La Mancha bottle of El Vinculo Crianza (2016) by Familia Fernández Rivera, a 100% Tempranillo high alcohol (15.5%) beast of a wine. Loads of fresh black fruits with complexity developing flavours of smoke, coffee and chocolate that packed a punch on the lengthy finish. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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Whenever you see a classification on Spanish wine (Crianza, Reserva or Gran Reserva) that’s all you need, to know that it’s been aged in oak barrels. A Crianza requires the least amount of ageing; minimum 2 years, of which 1 year must be in barrel. Gran Reserva on the other hand is aged for at least 5 years, with 2 years minimum in barrel and 2 years minimum in bottle. As you can imagine, this correlates with the price tag. £££ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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I finished this bottle alongside a range of cured meats and got it as part of a gifted tasting with Fine Wines Direct. Watch this space for reviews of some of the other delicious wines we got to try. Wine approx £15 a bottle, found here.