La Tellería Mencía 2018

Description

La Tellería is a hillside vineyard plot of 85 year old Mencía vines, near the town of Valtuille de Abajo on the Bierzo leg of the Camino de Santiago.

The wine is made with really very little intervention, malolactic fermentation in stainless steels vats followed by 4-5 months in a 10,000 litre oak foudre, so what comes out of the bottle is down to those old vines and the clayey soils their roots penetrate deep into.

This is quite sublime. Rich garnet red in colour with intense aromas of hedgerow fruit, dark berries and dried fruit, smoky notes tangling with toasted nuts, wild fennel and hints of balsamic. It’s the minerality on the palate is most impressive, a glossy, silky texture aided by chalky tannins ensuring all those flavours stay in the mouth, intense and subtle, changing and evolving as the wine airs.

This will go well with a range of roasted and grilled meats, charcuterie and hard cheeses, but its match made in heaven is roast spring lamb with goose-fat potatoes and lashings of home-made mint sauce. Dribble.