2017 Lousas Vinas de Aldea
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Tasting notes
This has a tarry, reductive mode on the nose with a dark-plum and black-cherry edge. Very flinty, it opens up nicely with air to offer deeply spicy, graphite-like notes that really appeal. The palate has a very plush and concentrated feel with such succulent and finely detailed tannins, carving a long, sturdy run to the finish. Drink or hold.
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Average Score
James Suckling
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Unfortunately, like the rest of the 2017s from Envínate in Ribeira Sacra, the 2017 Lousas Viñas de Aldea will be sold without the appellation of origin because of different, mostly bureaucratic, problems with the control body. For example, this beautiful, expressive and aromatic wine was rejected by the tasting panel because they found faults in the wine. I can tell you there are no defects in the wine, but it doesn't smell of exotic fruit from selected yeasts and doesn't reek of oak from aging in new barrels. So, if that's what they expect from the appellation wines, we might as well forget about the appellation. Anyway, the different plots are fermented separately, and they make a final blend of the wine that is aged 30% in concrete and the rest in used barriques, with a majority of grapes from Ribera del Sil. This is expressive and has been like that from the beginning, and even three weeks after bottling, the wine didn't show any fatigue, dizziness or anything at all. It's elegant, polished and really easy to drink, a little lighter than the 2016 I tasted next to it. 18,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2018.