Espelt, Coma Bruna Très Old Vinyes, Empordà, Spain, 2015

Espelt is the second biggest producer in Empordà, and the company is run with great verve by Anna Espelt. Many of its older, lower-lying holdings don’t have the quality potential that the family is looking for, so their wines are sold off in bulk. The summits of the range, meanwhile, are sourced from ever-higher vineyard sites. This wine (whose label really does read ‘Très Old Vinyes’) is based on Carignan planted in 1901 on slate soils. It’s a saturated dark red colour with fresh, lively and graceful red fruit perfumes at this stage. A typically explosive acidity greets the drinker on the palate, but behind it you’ll find a true peacock’s tail of bright fruit, plant and scrub flavours, with fragrant tobacco charm. A chance to look at two older vintages (2013 and 2012) suggests that the wine will begin to acquire a little smoky, pruney note after a year or two, though its true ageing potential is much longer than that.