Beirzo
Descendientes de José Palacios Corullón 2005
I've said before that this is a sleeper, and I still think its ture. Tempranillo and Garnarcha get all the big press, but well made Mencia wines are stunning and offer something quite different. I took this to an offline last week and did the blind options thing. Unfortunately people know I'm going to bring Spanish, but no one guessed that this was Mencia. In fact most people had never heard of it. But besides being a great options wine, its an excellent wine in its own right. Whenever someone asks me for a suggestion for something a bit different but great, this is the wine that comes to mind time after time. A bit of a price rise on this one too.
Its's open and going right from the start, seriously great fruit here: blackcurrent, blueberry and subtle cherry loaded up with earthy notes, a bit of mocha and violets. Oooh, those tannins are bloody good. I always love the fleshy tannins in this wine, they give the wine a texture that takes it to another level. Balanced and very long on the finish. The palate shows blackberry and blueberry fruit with roasted coconut, sage, mocha and minerals. More minerals on the finish. A spanking wine that I just want more of. A monty for the cellar, drink from 2011. 94+ Pts
Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $115 Closure: Conventional Cork
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hi dave
will this be your highest score on the site?
also which is in whites?
Hi Marcelo,
This is not the highest I have scored on the site, I scored 1975 Unico 99 and there are a bunch of wines between 95 and 97.
I think the highest white is Albariño de Fefiñanes 2006, which I gave 94.
Your thoughts re the potential of mencia are similar to Michael Apstein’s in this article:
Bierzo: The Next Priorat, Only Better
http://www.winereviewonline.com/apstein_on_bierzo_2007.cfm
Thanks for the link, a very well writen article. I have been trying to get my hands on a bottle of Paixar for a while, its apparently stunning stuff.
I had a chance to have a look at the DJP San Martin 05 yesterday, stunning stuff. I’m writing up the notes now, should be posted later in the week.
Great link Sanjay, thanks. I really like Mencia. Talking to Yalumba a couple of weeks back, it was interesting to note that Mencia was something they had their eye on for bringing in, as well as some of the Vega Sicilia tempranillo clones.
Good to see someone looking at other Tempranillo clones, although I’m not sure how much demand their would be for Mencia. Can’t hurt to give it a shot tho.