RP 98

They think of 2021 as a "classical" vintage in Ribeira Sacra, and the 2021 Lousas Parcela Camino Novo, a field blend of 85% Mencia, 12% Alicante Bouschet and the rest a mixture of Brancellao, Merenzao, Grao Negro, etc., shows that classical profile, with good ripeness, 13.21% alcohol, a juicy mouthfeel and nice balance. The soils are gneiss and schist with more clay than other vineyards and therefore the source for rounder wines. It fermented with 100% full clusters and matured in neutral 228- and 500-liter barrels. This is super elegant and nuanced, the most elegant and complete wine today, with energy and light, rose petals and herbs, powerful and elegant in a rare combination, going back to the finest expression of this vineyard. It's expressive, open and complex, head and shoulders above the others today. 1,550 bottles were filled in November 2022. They had hail in 2022, so this wine was not produced that year.

The wines from Envinate, one of the most dynamic projects in Spain, are increasingly sought after in international markets. So, from now on, I will start tasting the wines every 12 months, giving a preview of the unbottled wines from the last harvest and the bottled ones in the market. From Ribeira Sacra, it's the bottled 2021s and the 2022s in barrel, two very different harvests. There are two new village wines from 2021, a vintage with good yields again. 2021 is a cool, classical vintage that shows quite transparently the character of the places, while the 2022s are a little rounder and more immediate, even if they ended up being much fresher than initially expected. 2020 was an earlier harvest (2017 was the earliest ever). In 2022, they started early, and in 2023 they started early too but then it was a long harvest because they had to stop because of the rain.