2012 Las Lamas

Without a doubt the 2012 Las Lamas is the star of the vintage,and I'm talking not about the winery only, but about the whole of the Bierzo! If all the 2012 wines here are flowery and perfumed, Las Lamas has aromas of white flowers rather than violets, the citric notes are finer, like blood orange zest. Ricardo feels Las Lamas was picked in exactly the correct day, because Mencía is a very sensitive grape, and if you pick it one day too late or one day too early you get over ripeness or green, vegetal aromas. He talks about wild rose and quince, and I also get some soil, earthy, Gevrey-like. I think they really hit the bull's eye in 2012. The palate shows prodigious balance and harmony, like a tightrope walker moving steadily across the line, it dances on your tongue with the lightness and elegance of a ballerina. Ethereal, without being light. There are 2,500 bottles of this prodigious Bierzo. For this quality the price is really good.