Luna Beberide, Bierzo (Castilla y León, Spain) Mencia 2019

 This is a serious rendition of Mencía from Bierzo sourced from 50-60 year-old vines that shows the spicy, toasty, tannic effects of 10 months in used French barrels.  Tasting the wine before checking the oak regimen, I’d have guessed that there was a portion of new wood involved, or that the sheer duration of barrel maturation was longer.  In any case, though the wine seems quite notably oaky when the cork is first pulled, it comes together fairly readily with aeration, and the oak balance seems well done before long.  There’s a very attractive savory layer to this wine that isn’t attributable to oak and probably not to age, either, as this 2019 remains quite young at this stage.  Whatever the source of this savory side to the wine, it lends a lot of complexity and interest, and though the wine remains medium-bodied, there’s more depth and length of flavor than weight in this wine.  That’s a great virtue at the table, though this can also be sipped with pleasure on its own after a vigorous decanting, and would be nice with a wide range of tapas.