Algueira Mencía Joven 2025

Algueira Mencía Joven comes from Adega Algueira, a family winery on the dizzying terraces of D.O. Ribeira Sacra in Galicia. The vineyards cling to near-vertical slopes above the Sil River, worked by hand on stone-walled terraces that have been revived over decades. The soils are slate and granite, and the river-canyon site gives an Atlantic-influenced but sheltered climate that ripens Mencía while preserving its bright acidity and aromatic lift. This is the unoaked, young expression, made to capture fresh primary fruit rather than the structure of the producer's aged reds, so the wine sees no barrel and is bottled early to keep its vibrancy. The colour is bright, youthful cherry red. The nose shows fresh red fruits, raspberry and cherry, alongside black berries, with a sweet lactic note recalling strawberry and a subtle graphite minerality drawn from the slate. The palate is light to medium bodied, juicy and fresh, with fine tannin, lively acidity and a stony, mineral finish. Serve cool, at 14 to 15 degrees. It suits lighter dishes and can stand in for a white.