2015 Guimaro, Mencia, Ribeira Sacra Tinto, Galicia, Spain.
Bright and juicy the latest Guimaro Vino Tinto is a very forward Mencia with the year’s warm marking this wine, but allowing classic terroir character to still show through. I love the wines of Guimaro and drink this Ribeira Sacra often, Pedro Rodriguez Perez is also one of my favorite winemakers and people, so it was with lots of excitement that I got around to tasting this 2015 version, after cherishing the 2010 through 2014 wines so much, and I was not disappointed as this dark purple/deep red wine is lovely and easily one of the best values around. With a slightly carbonic feel and grapey entry the 2015 Guimaro Mencia starts with an almost Beaujolais note before settling in on the palate to a more natural stance with crushed violets, red rose petal, mineral spice and black cherry, plum, loganberry and tart currant fruits along with cinnamon, flinty stone and a hint of porcini. At about 13% this is a ripe vintage for Pedro, though still with medium body and vibrant acidity, and I sense that there was the ability to use a few whole clusters, though mostly I understand it is usually de-stemmed, native ferments and almost no wood is used here to keep things as fresh as possible in this wine, which is almost all Mencia, but has a few other black grapes found in the vines making for a pure effort that has the profile like Syrah, Pinot, Franc and Gamay mixed together in this vintage. This stylish wine from the beautiful and remote granite, sand and schist slopes of the Ribeira Sacra joins a set of thrilling wines from Jose Pastor Selections that are just now hitting the market, without question you should pick this wine up, it will mature nicely and is right now a winner for fall foods and holiday cuisine, drink from 2016 to 2020.
($19 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive