2007 Altos de Losada (Bierzo)

Here it is, my first blog entry from Madrid. Been here since Jan. 11 in a most delightful apartment overlooking Plaza de la Paja, the oldest square in Madrid. An extraordinarily lucky pick since I really didn't know the neighborhood, but it turns out I can walk to many of the best tapas places, to the river, to the Prado and other museums, and pretty much everything. The #18 restaurant on Tripadvisor is literally next door and we've had two excellent meals there.

Anyhow, found via Winesearcher a great sale (half price, about 13 Euros) on this wine which is made from the Mencia grape. Don't think I've had it before but Tanzer gave this a 92 which is quite high for him. So just opened a bottle and it is smashing. It has a big, complex aroma with components I can't quite identify, and on the palate it is very round, soft. Only a hint of tannin and acid, really complex tastes. The toasty oak is very evident but not burying the fruit, which has some combination of cherry, violet, spicy vanilla, with a long complex finish. THis is a real crowd pleaser. Acc to the web, Bierzo is an obscure area in NW Spain which is up and coming, and specializes in this particular grape. I'd say it's got a future, judging from this bottle.

From the winery:

The more complex and particular wine to enjoy all the subtlety and elegance that gives the new Bierzo Losada. Farms: Vineyard unique, almost impossible to access, grown on the property at the top of Valtuille Pieros Up and coming to the farm Losada.
Soils: clay slopes with different orientations.
Variety: Mencia old vineyards.
Aging: 15 months remains French oak barrels.
Evolution and Service: 8-10 years. Aerate in the decanter. Unfiltered wine.
Bottling Date: January 2009

From a website on Bierzo:

Rural and remote, lushly beautiful but little known, Bierzo is the kind of region wine lovers dream of discovering. This verdant DO in northwestern Spain, whose hilly, castle-studded landscape is hemmed in the mountains between Castilla y León and Galicia, was virtually unheard of a decade ago. Yet today this former Roman mining area has a promising future as one of Spain's new wine hotspots. It's a region where mineral-rich slate soils, a continental climate, and intrepid winemakers have come together to create some truly memorable red wines.
The Mencía grape is the star here, where it occupies nearly two-thirds of the vineyards. A variety cultivated almost solely in northwestern Spain (especially in the Galician DOs- appellations- Valdeorras, Monterrei, and Ribeira Sacra), Mencía has only recently come into its own as a respected grape variety. In good hands, it reveals fresh fruity notes, smooth tannins and an enviable reflection of the minerally terroir. Although known as a wine that shows very well in young, fruity wines, some Bierzo producers are proving that with the right balance of oak it can also age well.