Guímaro

Ribeira Sacra

'A Ponte' Single Vineyard Mencía 2020

Size

A recently introduced wine (the inaugural vintage was 2015) from a very old plot above Finca Meixeman. In the late 2000s, Pedro re-planted this parcela to Mencía (30%) and 17.5% each of Sousón, Brancellao, Merenzao and Caiño on granite, slate and sand at 420-550m. Hand-harvested, spontaneously fermented whole clusters, 50 days maceration and 6 months resting on skins. Then ages a year in old 500L Burgundy barrels. No fining/filtration.

Literally, ethereal. You smell and sense fresh mountain air with an atlantic nibble. It’s floral-spicy and red fruited: red apples, hibiscus, cinnamon, ink and mace, wild blackberry, rhubarb and damson. There are minerals everywhere – the dark spicy density of slate, spritzed with the freshness of granite. The tannins are a tracery - glorious layers of fruit skin lining fleshy fruit, leading to a perfect bitter finish lit up with briars. Lively, expressive, delicate and incredibly inviting.