Vinfolio.com

I’m in a ‘Mencía’ state of mind when promoting Spain’s Bierzo district on the outer frontier of Castile-Leon in northwestern Spain. Mencía is the native and flagship varietal of the Bierzo D.O.  It is a category that both enthusiast and collector need to consider when purchasing Spanish wines from more familiar and favorite outposts such as Rioja, Priorat and Ribera del Duero. Even though classified as part of the ‘Old Castile Empire’, Bierzo and its black skinned wonder, Mencía, have more in common historically and geographically to Galicia, a region more known for aromatic and light-bodied whites than for hearty reds. Mencía’s history is somewhat unknown based on inconclusive DNA evidence. However, certain experts state that the grape is a genetic cousin of French Cabernet Franc, whose origins stem from importation during the Roman occupation or afterwards with the pilgrimage of French Christians in the 1400s.

Fast forward to the modern day, to what I refer to the ‘Bierzo Renaissance’, when a few wine mavericks saw the potential of Mencía grown on the steep hillsides where old-vines struggle in the iron rich and schist based soil. Noted winemaker Alvaro Palacios’s mission to find the perfect place to make great wine lead him first to the Priorat (L’Ermita & Finca Dofi) in the late 1980s and then to Bierzo in the early 1990s. Alvaro teamed up with his nephew Ricardo Perez (also Bordeaux trained) to realize a project based upon their shared belief in Bierzo’s potential. Working with some of the old timers, Palacios and Perez’s research suggested concentrating their efforts in the small village of Corullón. Traveling through these hillside parcels reveals similar visuals and growing conditions to cru vineyards in Piedmont’s Langhe hills and Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. Their project ‘Descendientes de José Palacios’ makes a statement for grand cru rated Mencía! The remarkable 2001 vintage marked the release of the oldest vine blocks in single-vineyard formats. Seven wines are made in total assembled from vines that average 60 to 100 years old from the highest peaks on the western edge of Corullón. They include: Pétalos del Bierzo- the youngest vines, Corullón- an assemblage of old-vine parcels, and then five extraordinary single-vineyards (San Martin, Fontelas, Moncerbal, Las Lamas and La Faraona). It’s rare to find inventory of some of the vineyard designates for retail sale, but Vinfolio presently has four bottlings on the site from the stellar 2004 vintage. The ‘Corullón’ ($47, WA 91) is a multi parcel blend that is the most accessible, but still needs a few years to mellow out. The lineup is rounded out with three of the five single-vineyard designates including ‘La Faraona’ ($245), ‘Moncerbal’ ($126, IWC 94) and ‘San Martin’ ($84). The vineyard designates are extremely rare with total production levels averaging a mere 150 cases based on vintage yield.

In a nutshell, these bottlings are subtly different, but the overriding taste profile is of old-vine Mencía: a dark crimson to opaque purple hue with a fruit spectrum of pomegranate, cranberry, cassis, blueberries, black raspberry and black cherry on the mid-palate. Nuances of herbs reminiscent of Cabernet Franc on the nose and brooding iron laden minerals are prevalent throughout the palate experience. The varietal’s naturally high tannin composition makes the wine an ideal cellar candidate. 2004 Bierzo is “a must” to expand your Spanish buying strategy. Any fan of the Priorat and Ribera del Duero will get warm and fuzzy over the ‘Descendientes de José Palacios’ lineup based on the passion of its visionaries to coax the most out of these old-vines and the results in the glass have wooed the international wine press and insiders alike. The world-class ‘Wine World’ is getting too small not to consider odd-ball gems like Bierzo’s Mencía. Go ahead and think outside of the box. You will not be disappointed!