Dominio de Tares Mencia 2001

Wine Spectator "Smart Buy" and honored among the "Top 100 Wines of the Year"! Aged nearly six months in American and French oak following malolactic in the same barrels, richness imparted by the oak does not interfere with the berry-mineral elegance of the fruit. Will age well for several years. Made from 30+ year-old-vine Mencia (the precursor to Cabernet Franc) this unique, tasty wine displays intense varietal red fruit with oak in perfect harmony.

El Bierzo is a bowl-like depression ringed by snowcapped peaks, its unique geological formation attributed to Roman master engineering (according to locals, the Romans drained an ancient mountain lake to access the mineral riches beneath its waters). On the frontier between Castilla y León and Galicia, its climate is moderated by a mixture of Continental and Atlantic influence. Soils are mineral, slate and quartzite predominating. El Bierzo's predominant local variety is the Mencía, descended from grapes brought by the Roman settlers and generally regarded as the immediate precursor to the Cabernet Franc. A great majority of the vines are over 30 years old.