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Luis Gutierrez - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
"The 2013 Mencía is mostly Mencía with some other red grapes found in the old vineyards. It's more than a young un-oaked wine (it matured in contact with the lees in vat before bottling) with notes of wild berries and flowers, a herbal, balsamic side with great freshness. The cold, late 2013 vintage produced a very fresh wine with lower alcohol than other years, medium-bodied, with very good acidity and clean flavors, ending long, with precision and a mineral hint. They produced 60,000 bottles of this wine.
I met with Pedro Rodríguez from Guímaro and toured the amazing vineyards of Ribeira Sacra. On top of their old vineyards they have recently cleaned, terraced and planted a new vineyard on a steep slope in Amandi, a huge work only achievable with modern machinery, so it's mindboggling to think how the old vineyards with their walled terraces were built in the past. This is one of the "go to" names if you're wondering what all the fuss about Ribeira Sacra is about. Raúl Pérez helps with the wines and also produces his Ribeira Sacra reds from vineyards belonging to the Rodríguez family which are fermented and aged in their cellars. Similarly, Niepoort from Douro in Portugal produces one impressive red form one of their vineyards, Ladredo. Pérez and Niepoort's wines were also tasted and are found in their respective entries in this article. 2012 is probably the best vintage at this address so far. Stay tuned!"