Casar de Burbia 2022

Casar de Burbia is produced in the Bierzo region of Castilla y León from one hundred per cent Mencía, the grape that defines the appellation. The fruit comes from plots on the Finca Valdepiñeiro at 400 to 600 metres, where the altitude and the cool mountain influence give Mencía its freshness and aromatic lift, and the harvest and pressing are done by hand. Bierzo is known for its slate and clay soils, which drain freely and push the vine to root deep, lending the wine a mineral, almost graphite edge. Alcoholic fermentation runs at a controlled 24 to 25 degrees in small tanks to protect the fruit, and the wine then ages eight months in new American oak, the barrel adding sweet spice and a rounder texture while the slow oxygen exchange softens the tannins. The colour is a bright violet tinged red. The nose shows wild raspberry and cherry over a stony minerality, with vanilla and pepper from the oak. The palate is medium bodied and fresh, the tannins fine, the finish savoury and mineral. Serve at 16 degrees. It suits grilled red meat and mushrooms.