Winemaker Notes
The wine is aged in large oak vats for 10 months to give it immediate appeal, while still retaining the estate's signature finesse and restraint.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Dark cherries, plums, dried herbs and stones on the nose. Full-bodied with fine-grained tannins. Rich, layered, and textured with minerality and balance. Supple finish. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Even though the 2020 is already hitting the shelves, I also tasted the 2019 Pétalos, a very balanced vintage that shows moderate alcohol and great balance. It is very approachable right now, open aromatically, and despite what the parameters might read, the wine comes through as fresher than the 2020. This is a wine produced with around 80% purchased grapes and 20% grapes from their own vineyards. There are notes of berries but also plenty of herbs; it's aromatic and complex, with very fine tannins. It's a classical continental vintage from Bierzo. Best After 2022. Rating: 93+
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.