Massuria 2021

Mas Asturias is a small Bierzo winery whose vineyards run to under seven hectares of Mencía vines more than fifty years old, yielding just ten thousand bottles of Massuria. Bierzo sits in a sheltered valley in north-west Castilla y León, where an Atlantic-influenced climate is milder and wetter than the Castilian plateau, and Mencía is grown on slate and clay soils that give the wine its mineral, graphite signature. Old vines yield little and concentrate the fruit. The wine ages twelve to fifteen months in French oak, with thirty percent new barrels and the rest a year old, and is fined with egg white to settle harsh tannin and clarify the wine gently. The French oak adds restrained cedar and spice while slow oxygen exchange softens the tannins and adds texture. Expect a deep ruby red with aromas of red cherry and plum, dried herbs, black pepper and graphite. The palate is medium to full and savoury, with fresh acidity, fine tannin and a long, mineral finish at a moderate 13 percent. Serve at 16 to 17 degrees and decant for half an hour. It suits roast lamb, beef and mushroom dishes.