With the sun finally making a strong appearance we thought that it's about time something representing the sun was featured... Spanish sounding good?

The Castaño family owns over 410 hectares of vineyards in the Yecla DO in south-eastern Spain. 80% of these vineyards are planted with the native Monastrell variety. For several generations, Bodegas Castaño has been a pioneer in this region and has come to symbolise the best of what southern Spain has to offer: rich, warm climate wines made from grapes grown at altitude, resulting in wines of great character and finesse.

The Monastrell grapes are grown on non-irrigated bush and trellis vines in the Las Gruesas and Pozuelo vineyards respectively. The altitude of both vineyards is 750m above sea level and the vines have a North-South orientation with an average age of over 30 years. Soils here are limestone and the planting densities are 1,600 vines per hectare in Las Gruesas and 2,700 vines per hectare in Pozuelo.

A very rainy winter and a mild wet spring made for an excellent budbreak and vegetation. Weather conditions eventually turned out less favourable than expected due to hail storms in small concentrated areas that affected part of the crop in some plots. Despite a reduction of yield, careful selectivity resulted in very good quality in the final wines.

The grapes were vinified traditionally and macerated for 10 days before fermentation at 28ºC. Malolactic fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks, after which the wine was aged for 10 months in a combination of oak barrels, of which 80% were French, 20% were American and a third were new.

Solanera Vinas Viejas 2015 @ £14.95 - Buy it here!
Complex and sophisticated, this wine exudes notes of acacia flowers, black raspberries, blueberries, and blackcurrants. Full-bodied and intense on the palate with silky sweet tannins and delicate minerality. Stunningly pure and textured.

How's that to sit back with on a sunny day? Trust me, it's quite fantastic. Cheers!