Tilenus Pagos de Posada 2018

Tilenus Pagos de Posada is a single variety Mencía from Bodegas Estefanía in the D.O. Bierzo, made from vines almost a hundred years old planted on steep, hard to reach hillsides at around 600 to 800 metres and crafted under the supervision of the noted oenologist Raúl Pérez. Bierzo sits in a sheltered basin in the north west of Castilla y León, with a transitional Atlantic to continental climate and soils of slate and clay that lend Mencía its fresh red fruit, floral lift and stony, graphite minerality. The great age of the vines and the very low yields give real concentration, while hand harvesting and rigorous sorting protect the fruit. After fermentation the wine spends fifteen months in French oak, where slow oxygen exchange through the staves rounds the tannins and adds gentle spice and structure to a grape that can otherwise be lean. This 2018 shows a ruby colour with subtle mahogany highlights, a nose of ripe red fruit, earth and dried herbs over smoke and cedar, and a medium bodied, savoury palate with fine tannins and a long mineral finish. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees, decanted, with roast beef or game.