Vinos Valtuille Pago de Valdoneje Roble Mencia 2014
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2015-
Robert
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Mencía is the grape of choice in this Continental climate. And the García family, owners of the Valdoneje plot, have some really old vine mencía. At least 80 year old, planted by their previous generations. With this raw material Dimas García founded in 1999 Vinos Valtuille, and his son Marcos continues with his work, based on good care for the land and an obsession for quality over quantity. They strongly believe in the idea of remaining small to deliver the best quality possible, but this hasn´t been an obstacle for being present in so many different markets, including China, Brasil, Germany, the UK and Japan. They only make two wines, both of them 100% Mencía: one for early consumption and the other one, Viñas Viejas, meant to be aged and enjoyed over time.
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.
One of the few northwestern Spanish regions with a focus on a red variety, Bierzo, part of Castilla y León, is home to the flowery and fruity Mencia grape. Mencia produces balanced and bright red wines full of strawberry, raspberry, pomegranate, baking spice, pepper and black licorice. The well-drained soils of Bierzo are slate and granite.