César Márquez Parajes 2024

César Márquez Parajes is a barrel-aged red from D.O. Bierzo in Castilla y León, made by César Márquez Pérez from Mencía with Alicante Bouschet and a small share of white varieties. Márquez is the nephew of Raúl Pérez and spent seven years working with him before founding his own project in 2015, building each wine around its exact origin with minimal cellar intervention. Bierzo sits in a sheltered mountain basin where Mencía grows on slate and clay soils, the slate retaining daytime heat while cool nights preserve the grape's bright acidity and floral aromatics. The small portion of co-fermented white fruit lifts the perfume and softens the structure, a traditional practice in the area. After fermentation the wine spends 12 months in oak, used barrels that round the texture without covering the fruit. The colour is bright mid-ruby. The nose is perfumed, with wild red berries, cherry, rose and a clear earthy, slate-like edge, with black pepper and thyme behind. The palate is medium bodied with fine tannin and fresh acidity, the finish savoury and stony. Serve at 15 to 16 degrees. A natural match for roast duck and game birds.