Alaya Tierra 2016

The top-of-the-range 2016 Alaya Tierra (which used to be called only Alaya, but the name was a little too similar to Laya) is pure Garnacha Tintorera from old vines planted at 1,000 meters in elevation. This is a ripe, heady, dense red that reached 16% alcohol and even retained some residual sweetness. It's opaque, off-dry and heady, almost a dessert wine but with loads of tannin, a little à la Recioto. It has so much tannin that the sweetness is not really perceptible. This is a difficult wine, a bit freaky, but perhaps with a few years in bottle it could be paired with game dishes. It matured in brand new French oak barrels for 15 months. It's not for the fainthearted. I had not tasted this wine for a very long time, and this could be an elegant vintage within its brutal profile. Very unusual. 18,000 bottles were filled in March 2018.