Winemaker Notes
Plenty of violet florals, cherry syrup and jubey blackberry concentrate. Like drinking flowers, the Mencia has such a delicious palate. Bright, fresh and zesty – this red has limited oak impact and is all about the fruit. Chewy berry flavors abound.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A lovely surprise in the OT lineup is the 2018 Mencia. Loaded with boysenberry and blueberry fruit, this medium to full-bodied effort is silky and creamy on the palate, ripe and deliciously easy to drink. Perfumed on the nose and long on the finish, it has everything it needs to make for fun drinking over the next few years.
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.
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.