Michelini i Mufatto En el Camino 2023

En el Camino is a Bierzo red from Michelini i Mufatto, an Argentine winemaking couple who fell for some abandoned vineyards in the province of León and emigrated in 2015 to start a family project alongside local winemaker Javier González. They work native varieties with minimal intervention, and this wine is one hundred per cent Mencía, the grape of Bierzo. The region's old vines grow on slate and clay soils in a damp, Atlantic-influenced corner of north-west Spain, cool enough to keep Mencía fresh and aromatic at a moderate twelve and a half per cent. Rather than oak, the wine spends ten months ageing in clay amphorae. The unlined clay lets a little oxygen through the porous walls to soften the tannins, like a barrel, but adds no wood flavour, so the pure fruit and the mineral slate character come through unmasked. Expect a bright, light to medium-bodied red, fragrant with red berries, cherry and red currant, lifted by black pepper, dried herbs and a stony, graphite edge. The palate is fresh and crunchy with fine tannins, lively acidity and a clean, mineral finish. Serve at 15 to 16 degrees, lightly cool. A versatile red for lighter meats and game birds. Sustainably farmed.