Adrás, Ribeira Sacra (Galicia, Spain) Mencia 2013

I fell in love with this wine instantly.  That may not be entirely surprising to those who know me, as I’ve probably written more about the Mencia grape than anyone based in the USA.  However, I also showed it to two different groups of people at dinner parties, and everyone else loved it immediately too.  For a wine that is just one year off the vine, it shows lots of juicy, primary fruit; and though it seems obvious that it would be assertively fruity at this early stage, the remarkable thing is that the fruit isn’t “obvious” in its character, but actually quite layered and interesting.  It shows fresh, sweet-seeming tones, but also wonderful bright acidity, and these sensory signals are woven together by subtle savory notes that really provide an excellent sense of integration and completeness that is utterly unexpected in a wine of such youth.  As a final testament to this wine’s captivating powers, a friend from one of the dinner parties — who had never heard of nor tasted Mencia before — showed up un-announced at our door the following evening, having just driven to a wine shop to find another rendition.  She demanded that we open it immediately to try it — and it turned out to be Finca la Cuesta Mencia from Bierzo’s Luna Beberide (also imported by Aurelio Cabestrero). One more convert to Mencia!