Melida Wines, Eternauta, Ribera del Duero 2021 - 75cl

Eternauta takes its name from a cult Argentine comic about a traveller through time, and Melida treats it as their most soulful wine, the one that leans on old vines rather than muscle. The fruit comes from a single plot in Milagros, up at around 900 metres, where the Tempranillo is over 75 years old and the soils are pale with limestone. Altitude that high buys you cool nights, and cool nights buy you perfume.

That is exactly what you get in 2021, a cooler and more classical Ribera vintage than the warm 2020. This is the floral end of Tempranillo: red cherry and raspberry rather than black fruit, a note of violets and a little wild herb, all carried on real freshness. It spent eighteen months in 400-litre French oak, a fair chunk of it new, yet the wood sits well inside the fruit. You notice fine-grained tannin and a whisper of cedar more than any obvious toast. At 14% it is medium to full but poised, ripe without excess, and the finish comes through bright and long.

Old vines and high altitude tend to give wines that punch above their size, and this is a good example: only 2,500 bottles, more finesse than force. It is approachable now if you give it a little air, though I would happily cellar a couple and revisit around 2028, by which point the oak will have melted further into the wine.

If you have written Ribera off as all power and no grace, this is the bottle to change your mind.

How to Serve

Serve around 17C. Decant 30-45 minutes; a wide Burgundy-style bowl flatters its perfume and lets the old-vine detail show.

Where to Drink It

• Brindisa, Borough - proper tapas and a Spanish list a stone's throw from the market.
• Barrafina, Drury Lane - order the tortilla and let the wine breathe alongside.
• Sabor, Mayfair - the upstairs Asador does open-fire cooking this old-vine red will love.

Food Pairings

Grilled Iberico pork or roast partridge; the perfume and freshness suit game and char alike.