2018 Lousas Parcela Seoane

The next cool vintage of the Parcela Seoane single-vineyard bottling is the 2018 Lousas Parcela Seoane, as the 2016 could not be produced because the vines suffered from hail, just like what has happened in 2018 with the other "regular" single-vineyard bottling. I say "regular" because there are some single-vineyard bottlings exclusively for the Cuvée Viticole wine club in the US. 2018 was a cool and rainy year after the earliest harvest on record. The idea here is to show the expression of different climats in the Doade zone, as other growers also do. Here, they work with wine grower Miguel Anxo, and they feel the work in the vineyard shines through especially clear in 2018. The vines are over 80 years old, and in all these vineyards the dominant grape is Mencía; but there's always a filed blend, and in this case, it includes perhaps 5% Merenzao, Brancellao and Alicante Bouschet. The soils are mostly gneiss with mica and quartz. It fermented with 100% full clusters in open plastic bins, without temperature control, with indigenous yeasts and soft punch-downs with the hands, like they were massaging the cap. Malolactic was in a 350-liter and a 500-liter oak barrel, and the wine matured with the lees in barrel for 12 months without racking. It started a little closed and took some time to take off. I had the wine in the glass for a good hour and a half, and the development of aromas was unbelievable. The wine is super perfumed and nuanced, with a different twist, blood orange and a touch of curry/exotic spices. The palate reveals very fine and subtle minerality, great focus and symmetry, land it's long, vibrant and fresh and super tasty. Without a doubt, this is the finest Seoane to date. Only 1,000 bottles were filled in December 2019.