Winery Regina Viarium from Ribeira Sacra, © Luis Carré (ICEX).

A LOVE AFFAIR WITH MENCÍA WINES

Mencía grapes. Courtesy of CRDO Bierzo.

About the author:
Steven Olson, aka wine geek,
is a New York-based wine and
spirits educator and consultant. He
teaches, lectures and writes about
virtually every beverage under the
sun, discussing their integral cause-
and-effect relationship with food.

Ribeira Sacra´s Roman Vineyards, © Fernando Biones (ICEX).

By Steven Olson

It is no secret that I am a fan of Spanish wines, as I have now been preaching the gospel for over 20 years. I have nurtured a love affair with many of the regional wines for many years now, as I have passionately extolled the virtues of the many clones of Tempranillo, and shared the knowledge that my favorite grapes, Garnacha and Carineña, were indeed Spanish from the beginning.

I laid my love of life on the line for my beloved wines from Jerez, and even proclaimed to the world that Albariño, Verdejo, and especially Godello, are now to be recognized next to the world’s best white wines. I used the value card to get them to listen, but the proof has always been in the glass, and I have since proudly watched as Spanish wine has assumed its rightful place on the world stage. I am known by many as a fanatic of such relatively obscure D.O.s as Toro and Jumilla, and I stashed away my favorite bottles of Priorato when the world was trying to figure out what those crazies were up to. As much as I love all of these brilliant wines, from many amazing regions, today I reveal my true Spanish wine soul: I cannot get enough of the black grape Mencía, and the red wines of that remote area of western Castilla y León and Galicia.

Bierzo is indeed the heart and soul of the Mencía-producing regions, but stopping there would not do justice to the versatility of this very unique grape. Delicious wines fashioned from Mencía are being produced in the D.O.s Ribeira Sacra, Monterrei, Ribeiro, Valdeorras, and yes, even Rías Baixas (even though a miniscule amount of red wine is produced within the D.O.).

When I visited in 1993, I did not taste a single red wine worth writing about or sharing. When I finally returned on a pilgrimage to this magnificent

area in 2006, I was inundated with brilliant red wines, from every corner of Galicia, and of course from Bierzo itself.

For many years, red wines from Bierzo, and all of Galicia, were considered light and fruity, simple wines, and thus Mencía was designated a simple grape, capable of producing only this type of wine. This was perhaps a result of phylloxera, when the vineyards were replanted in the valley floors and produced at great volumes and high yields, of course yielding a lighter style of wine. But on the very steep, slate and schist covered hillsides of this Atlantic maritime area, situated above the Río Sil and its tributaries at elevations often over 2300 feet and sometimes up to 2800 feet above sea level, the old vines were just waiting for someone like Ricardo Pérez Palacios to happen by and pay them heed. When Ricardo and his famous uncle Álvaro (Finca Dofí and L’Ermita) first produced their Corullón wine, from the village of the same name, in 1999, a few of us took notice. Under the name of Descendientes de J. Palacios, the wines have improved with every vintage, and now, in my estimation, the single vineyard designations from this bodega are some of the finest wines in the world today.

When Mariano García (formerly of Vega Sicilia, currently of Mauro, San Román, and Aalto) teamed up with Bernardo Luna, of Luna Beberide, to produce Paixar from 80 to 100 year-old vines at 2700 feet, the game was on. Now Mariano's brilliant sons, Eduardo and Alberto, are in charge, along with Bernardo’s son Alejandro, and Paixar continues to be one of the shining stars for the future. I am absolutely in love with this wine, and you will be too... if you can find it.

Winery Regina Viarum