Arbui V.47 2021

Old vines at walking pace: two kilos of grapes per vine, five thousand bottles.

Ben: The V.47 is the age of the vines, not a year — planted 47-plus years ago on a slope called La Solana, each vine ripening under two kilos of grapes. In the cellar nothing gets pumped: the wine moves by gravity alone, then sleeps twenty months in new French oak. It's the first wine bottled under Alicante's official old-vine designation.

In your glass: The deep end of Monastrell: nearly a heavyweight, with a firm, mouth-drying grip and just enough freshness to carry it. The new oak is still young — this bottle rewards a slow evening now, or a year of patience. Pick it as the birthday bottle for someone who loved the younger Arbui; don't make it your first.

Serve it: Open it an hour before dinner — it needs the head start.

You’ll probably love it if: You want the deep end: two kilos of grapes per vine, five thousand bottles.

Skip it if: Same grape at a third of the price → the younger Arbui (€14.90). Elegance over muscle at this money → Valdelobas (€35).