Estévez Bodegas y Viñedos Versos de Valtuille Mencía 2024

Versos de Valtuille is a Mencía from Estévez Bodegas y Viñedos, a family project in Valtuille de Abajo in the DO Bierzo built on century old family vineyards. Bierzo sits in a sheltered valley in the northwest of Castilla y León, where Mencía thrives on slate and schist slopes that lend the grape its hallmark graphite minerality and floral lift. The cool, wet influence here keeps alcohol moderate and acidity bright, giving the wine a fresh, perfumed character rather than weight. After fermentation the wine spends eight months in large foudres, where the high volume of the big oak and slow, gentle oxygenation soften the tannins and round the texture without adding noticeable wood flavour, so the fruit and the soil lead. The colour is a bright violet tinged ruby. The nose shows fresh red berries and cherry, cracked black pepper, dried herbs and a smoky, slate like mineral note. The palate is light to medium bodied, fresh and savoury, with fine tannin and a graphite edged finish. Serve lightly cool, around 15 degrees, in a Burgundy style glass. It is a versatile food red that can replace a fuller white.