Castro Ventosa Valtuille Cepas Centenarias 2022

Valtuille Cepas Centenarias comes from Castro Ventosa in D.O. Bierzo, drawn from century-old vineyards around the village of Valtuille. Mencía dominates, with Bastardo, Alicante Bouschet and small amounts of other old field varieties. The vines grow at around 580 metres on soils of sand and chalk, free-draining ground that keeps the old vines low yielding and the fruit precise. Bierzo, tucked into the hills of Castilla y León, sits at the meeting point of continental and Atlantic climates, so warm days and cool nights ripen Mencía while holding its bright acidity and floral aromatics. The great age of the vines gives naturally small crops of concentrated, balanced fruit. Fermentation on skins extracts colour and fine tannin, and the wine then ages twelve months in French oak, where gentle oxygen exchange settles the structure and adds restrained spice that frames rather than covers the fruit. The 2022 is deep cherry red. The nose is fragrant, with red fruit, violet, wild herbs and a peppery, mineral edge. The palate is medium-bodied and fresh, with fine tannin, lively acidity and a savoury, stony finish. Serve at 15 to 17C. It works with roast beef, lamb, game and mushroom dishes.