Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Concentrated, smoky aromas of dark fruits, graphite and toast are direct and potent. A grabby mouthfeel is defined by elastic, staunch tannins. Blackberry, cassis and a hint of lemony oak create a fine flavor profile, while the finish is loamy and tastes of licorice and peppery spices. Drink through 2018.
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Wine Spectator
Toast, dark chocolate and licorice flavors frame the black cherry and plum fruit in this expressive red, accented by mountain herb and mineral notes. Broad-shouldered but graceful, with integrated tannins and firm acidity. Drink now through 2021.
Primarily found in the Bierzo, Ribeira Sacra and Valdeorras regions of Spain and in the Dão of Portugal (where it is called Jaen), Mencia is an early ripening, low acid grape that can produce wines of great concentration, complexity and ageability. And yet Mencia once suffered from a poor reputation and deemed capable of producing simple and light red wines. Post-phylloxera growers would grow this variety on low, fertile plains, which produced high yields and uncomplicated finished wines. Somm Secret—The recent rediscovery of the ancient, abandoned vines planted on rugged hillsides of deep schist has unveiled the potential of Mencia and added discredit to its old reputation.
One of the few northwestern Spanish regions with a focus on a red variety, Bierzo, part of Castilla y León, is home to the flowery and fruity Mencia grape. Mencia produces balanced and bright red wines full of strawberry, raspberry, pomegranate, baking spice, pepper and black licorice. The well-drained soils of Bierzo are slate and granite.