Winemaker Notes
A supple palate of dark fruit and compote. The nose matches the mouth profile with the addition a certain note and a kiss of oak. Long, satisfying finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Ultreia Valtuille was produced with the clay part of their Villegas plot, as the sandy part was used for the new Ultreia Villegas bottling but introduced the lower part of the vineyard with more soil and more clay. They produced more or less the same amount as in previous years, some 18 barriques; but in 2021, they introduced foudres for part of the wine, and in this first year, the foudre was newer (they used it to ferment a white before). They also started renewing their barrels, so the wines show a little more oak than usual. It has moderate alcohol and mellow acidity, and it seems like the longer cycle and the slow ripening burned some acidity.
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Wine Spectator
A lovely, creamy red, with good density and focus set in a light- to medium-bodied frame. Reveals hints of dried lavender and sage that waft through notes of blackberry paste and fresh loamy earth, with aromatic floral, spice and mineral accents lingering on the lightly chewy finish.
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.