A Merced del Bierzo Valdeviñas 2015

"The first two wines produced in the A Merced project from Bierzo are already here: two Mencía reds from different zones (there will be four wines in 2016), including the 2015 A Merced de Bierzo Valdeviñas from a single vineyard in Molina Seca, a parish from Ponferrada. The vines are really old and planted with mixed varieties. The grapes are fermented together with full clusters, then foot trodden in amphorae with indigenous yeasts (like all wines here), kept until February with skins and then transferred to well-seasoned, neutral oak barrels. It surprised me with its aromatic, subtle and elegant profile, not too dark colored, with a mixture of wild berries and herbs, ripe without excess, actually quite fresh for a vintage like 2015. The palate shows an agile wine with unnoticeable tannins and oak and moderate acidity that makes it juicy and approachable with fruit, reminiscent of the clay soils where the vines are planted. A very pleasant surprise, which shouldn't really be, as it's very much in line with the Michelini style, but I didn't know what to expect from a completely different place for them. 900 bottles were filled in January 2017."